Curses to be Broken
by A-Lord-Over-Birds
Summary: Temporarily Cancelled - Read the last chapter if you want to know why.
1. Back to School

A Big Fat Thank-You

I'd really like to thank everyone who made Rise of the Escaryuba possible (including Microsoft and , derp!) and gave me the support (and reviews) to keep writing!

This is the sequel to Rise of the Escaryuba, and hopefully it will be as good!

Rise of the Escaryuba: .net/s/5740057/1/Rise_Of_The_Escaryuba

Just paste that in, so it looks like this. This site doesn't even let me link to itself...

http:/ w w w dot fanfiction dot net/s/5740057/1/Rise_Of_The_Escaryuba

Read and review!

* * *

Chapter 1: Back to School

Ness plopped into his chair in Mr. Blery's class just as the bell rang.

"Where were you?" whispered Paula, who was next to him.

"A place," he muttered.

"That doesn't-" began Paula, but she was cut off as Mr. Blery began speaking.

"Class, open your notebooks and begin your drills."

They continued their conversation telepathically.

("Weird how they decided to send students from Onett and Twoson to the same school, eh?") said Ness casually.

("Not the point. Can you remember what E=MC squared means?")

("That's not on the drill,") thought Ness worriedly.

("Then why did I see it?") wondered Paula.

"Ness? Paula? Are you doing your drills?" asked Mr. Blery, striding over to them.

"Uhm...yes, Mr. Blery..." mumbled Ness, still puzzling over Paula's sudden reception of the question...

BRRRRIIINNNGG!

The lunch bell rang. Ness walked out of his class with Paula.

"So what was that all about?" he asked.

Paula opened her mouth to respond, but just then:

"Hey, stripey!"

Ness was wearing his usual blue-and-yellow again instead of black, without his cap (caps were not allowed at school).

"Oh. It's Derrick."

Derrick, a positively monstrous junior the size of a truck, played football and all of the girls seemed to think he was "cute" despite the mass of rather hairy pimples that covered his face, almost making it seem like a genetic deformity. He had hair all over and had a voice like a drunken gorilla. Somehow that was cute.

"Ohh, it's..." mimicked Derrick, replacing his own name with something I would rather not say.

"You just insulted yourself, moron," scoffed Ness. A crowd had formed around them, and they laughed. Derrick walked up to Ness, his hulking form heaving with breath.

"You just earned yourself a punch in the throat," he snarled.

"Not if I can help it," teased Ness, and he leapt nimbly out of the way of Derrick's punch. Paula was the only one who knew that if Ness punched Derrick as hard as possible, Derrick would probably be knocked cold. Nobody had any idea that just last week Ness had saved the world once more. They knew he had done it once, but the student body seemed to have forgotten how Ness and company had fought Giygas and Paula had willed him into nothingness. Ness just referred to it as "killing Giygas," which was technically incorrect.

Derrick attempted to kick him with his best football kick, but an impromptu (and nonverbal) PSI Shield caused it to be deflected. The hulking beast just thought he had missed.

PK FLASH! thought Ness, and there was an incredibly bright flash that sent many students screaming away, and others cried. They didn't know what had happened.

Derrick, meanwhile, was beyond angry. He grabbed a pencil from a passing kid and tried to stab Ness. Enraged, Ness hit Derrick in the stomach. He doubled over.

"Don't ever do that again," spat Ness coldly.

"I hate it when you get like that..." muttered Paula.

"He deserves it."

Meanwhile, four or five girls swarmed Derrick.

"Are you okay? Can I get you something? HELP! He's gonna die!"

"He isn't gonna die," said Mr. Blery, exiting the classroom. "What happened?"

Derrick smirked at Ness, unseen by anyone else, and pointed at Ness.

"What happened here? I DEMAND to know!" fumed Mr. Blery.

"Derrick attempted to stab me with a pencil, so I punched him in the stomach. I don't think it would have hurt big, tough Derrick as much as he's acting like it did."

"Paula! Is this true?" demanded the irate teacher.

"Yes, Mr. Blery."

"You're not just saying that?"

Three students who had been crying from PK Flash recovered themselves enough to support Ness. He realized these three were his old friends whom he had not seen in quite a while, ever since he had begun the war against Giygas.

"Thanks, guys. Sorry about that flash," Ness told them as Derrick was taken away from the area, the gaggle of girls casting very angry looks at Ness.

"Not a problem," said Johnny, the tallest of them. They were quite aware of Ness' PSI.

Several minutes later the pair dashed into the cafeteria, hoping to find a good seat. The freshman performance of "Little Shop of Horrors" was today, in the cafeteria. They sat next to one another, in a seat that was not too close to the stage but yet still had a good view.

"Great that this school provides theater as we eat, huh? And we get to miss the next period watching this!" laughed Ness. Paula wholeheartedly agreed.

"I wish Jeff was here, though. He liked this kind of performance," sighed Paula.

"It would also be cool to have him here because we could borrow that sonar device of his," muttered Ness. "Scan the basement...I SWEAR there are corpses down there..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Winters, Jeff was tinkering with an old pipe. Tony had no idea what he was trying to do with it, but accepted it nonetheless.

"I wish I hadn't used my last ionic transducer..." muttered Jeff. Again, Tony was clueless.

"Jeff!" called Maxwell's voice suddenly.

"Coming, Maxwell! See you later, Tony," added Jeff as he flew down the stairs.

"Any luck with that pipe?" asked Maxwell.

"Nothing. What's the deal?"

"We've found something...disturbing, to say the least," grimaced Maxwell.

Jeff followed him out of the school gates.

"This is more your area of expertise..."

Jeff gasped as he saw the body of his father facedown in the snow. There was no blood, and no evidence that he had been injured, but he had been quite sure his father had died when there was a massive explosion in his lab.

* * *

Sometime in the future, 100 years later, Boney was running around the village under the power of Rapa Etus, because he felt like it. The brown blur shooting around town was beginning to make some people uneasy. Suddenly Nathan appeared in front of him, stopping him completely.

"Lesson time," he grinned.

* * *

Lucas kicked the rock down the dirt road. He was waiting for his favorite book to be returned to the library so he could check it out again.

Another boy suddenly seemed to materialize from around the corner, and he kicked the rock back.

Lucas kicked the rock.

The boy kicked the rock.

This impromptu game of soccer ended when the rock went past Lucas. He picked it up, but his head was only turned for a moment (less than a second) when he realized that the boy was gone. No footprints, no floating dust to show that he had run, no evidence he had existed at all

"Weird," muttered Lucas. "I'd better find Kumatora, she might know something about this."

He sprinted off towards Osohe, and was almost there when he ran right into Nathan and Boney.

"Oh, hello, Lucas," greeted Nathan.

("Where are you going in such a hurry?") asked Boney.

"Osohe. I just saw something really weird and I need to find Kumatora."

He continued on his way, through the cemetery. It was spooky even at midday, even with Nippolyte's shack restored. He vaulted over the fence and swam across the moat. Balancing himself on the ledge of dirt, he sidled over to a place where Duster had scaled the wall a while ago. He climbed the ladder, and then climbed up into Osohe itself.

"KUMATORA!" he called. She jumped out from behind a sliding painting with moving eyes, and grinned at him.

"What's the deal?" she asked.

"Take me to the Osohe document room. I need to see if anyone lived in the village who died. About my age."

"Okay..." muttered Kumatora. "That's odd. What exactly happened?"

"I kicked a rock down the road. He came around the corner and we kicked the rock back and forth until I turned my head for a moment, to pick it up. It wasn't even a second, but he was gone when I looked up. I thought he might have been a ghost. There weren't any footprints, and no dust in the air signifying that he had run away."

"That IS weird," stated Kumatora. "Come on then. We're going down into the basement."

* * *

BRRRIIINNNG!

Ness and Paula left their final class for their lockers, about to head home.

Just then...

"I haven't forgotten that little stunt you pulled back there. I got detention for a week, you know that?"

"Go away, Derrick. You're not tough, and quite frankly, you're ugly," spat Paula.

"Why don't you go out with me instead of him there?" asked Derrick, ignoring her. Ness knew he was quite infatuated with Paula, and he felt a tic going in his eye as he packed his stuff into his bookbag.

"I'd rather die," said Paula scornfully, turning and walking away with Ness.

Derrick followed her, pestering her until Ness stopped and tripped him. He kept walking, acting like nothing had happened, and left the building. He walked Paula home through Twoson and then teleported to his own house.

He sat petting King for a while, wishing he could go on another adventure. That was what he truly loved doing, besides playing baseball. And eating steak.

* * *

"What happened!" exclaimed Lucas. "I don't see anything about HOW he died..."

"It had to be something tragic, or else he wouldn't be sticking around in an earthbound form..." mused Kumatora.

"You mean, like a murder?" asked Lucas?

The boy had certainly died, and his name was George Burns. He had died at Lucas' age, but it did not give much other information. It reminded him of Richard Pronch, a man killed by the Escaryuba and then impersonated. He had died a sickening death, and Ness had found him when he noticed part of a hand sticking out of a snowdrift they were lying in, attempting to block out the noise of Duster and Kumatora's argument.

"Exactly," responded Kumatora. She frowned and flipped through a book that was lying alone on a bottom shelf. "This book might help."

Lucas flipped through it. Nothing.

"It doesn't," he said. "Not a thing."

"Oh." Kumatora replaced the book upon its shelf.

* * *

"Traevis!"

("Traevis!")

A book and a bone went soaring through the air to the owners of the respective voices.

"Nice job, Boney!" complimented Nathan. "You have the makings of a true magician...dog...dog magician!"

Boney barked with pleasure.

"How's the lesson going?" asked Flint cheerily, exiting the house. Despite the deaths of his wife and son, he had recovered and was the same as ever.

"Boney's brilliant. He really enjoys the lessons, you know," grinned Nathan.

("Yep!") yipped Boney in agreement, thought Flint didn't understand him.

* * *

"You know what's weird?" asked Ness, sitting in a tree. He was watching the sun set over the horizon, and King was sitting at the foot of the tree.

("Eh?") mumbled the white sheepdog.

"Derrick's been acting awfully odd lately. More vicious than usual, ya know?"

("Mmf.")

"Meh, I'll think about it later. It's six o' clock, time for dinner."

("DINNER! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!") woofed King, springing to his paws. ("COME ON!") He charged into the house, barking.

Ness followed him, laughing.

The day was weird for all of them, but they were sure it would be alright.

Or would it?

* * *

Reviews, please!

How'd you like Chapter One of the sequel? Pretty good? Pretty bad? Somewhere in-between?

Lol, even Ness gets bullied. (Although it ends badly for the bully, who also hits on Paula. :\)

Read more to find out what happened to Dr. Andonuts! And review!

Next Chapter: From Nowhere


	2. From Nowhere

Chapter 2: From Nowhere

So far...

Lucas has had an encounter with an odd boy he believes to be a ghost. Was that his first and last encounter, or will the spectre and the living meet again?

Ness has had to deal with a vicious bully who seems to be acting even worse than usual. Something's wrong here...

Boney is a brilliant magician...dog...dog magician.

Dr. Andonuts has turned up at the gates of Snow Wood boarding school, when Jeff believed him to be dead.

What will happen next?

* * *

As Ness bit into a baked potato, the phone rang. Mouth full of fresh...potato, he rose from his seat and traversed the room simply to answer it. Okay, so he could have asked King to do it, but the dog was enjoying the leftover chicken organs and he didn't want to bother him.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Ermm...hi, Ness. It's me, Jeff."

"Oh. Hi, Jeff. What's going on?"

"You have to come to Winters. Now."

"Like, now-now? I'm kind of eating dinner."

"This is really important."

"What happened?"

"My dad, Dr. Andonuts? Remember?"

"I thought he was dead. I don't think he is, but I need your help."

"Okay, I'll try to be there as soon as I can."

Jeff hung up, and Ness turned to his mom.

"Sorry to leave the dinner table without excusing myself, but I really need to go," he told his mom, before seizing King's collar (he had finished his food and was looking around warily for more) and flying out the door in a teleport.

* * *

Three seconds later, he was in Winters, in front of Snow Wood (formerly named Poisonwood when the Escaryuba had taken over, and brainwashed the students into evil killing machines).

"Ness! King! Quickly! This way!"

He heard Jeff's voice and saw a glint of glasses through the darkness.

("Why'd you drag me here?") complained the dog.

"I thought you loved adventures."

("I reverted back to LD,") growled King tonelessly.

"Brilliant," spat Ness. "We could do with Escaryuba-fighting you right about now."

("We?")

"Me and Jeff!"

Without waiting for a response, Ness ran into the school and looked around. He spotted Jeff looking at him from the end of a hall, so he went there.

"This is the infirmary," explained Jeff. "Follow me."

They went to a bed at the far end of the room, and Ness gasped.

"But...how did he even get here?" asked Ness.

"Crawled, I suppose," shrugged Jeff.

"Why did you call me?"

"I want you to heal him, Ness. Use PSI."

Ness frowned, then lifted a hand into the air.

"PSI Heal!"

Bluish energy radiated from his palm.

"PSI Lifeup!"

Green energy streamed into Dr. Andonuts. Ness glanced around, then pulled a gelatin from his pack to restore his used PSI. He preferred to stay in top shape, just in case something arose again.

It was silent.

Then Dr. Andonuts stirred.

"Mmff...wha...mm...what's...going...on?" he asked blearily and slowly.

"You're alive!" exclaimed Jeff happily.

"Of course I am," said Dr. Andonuts. "Haven't we been living happily for some time?"

"No..." said Jeff.

"I have reason to believe you were in a coma, Doctor," said Ness.

("Isn't the DOCTOR supposed to say that?") asked King as he walked into the door.

Ness and Jeff chuckled at the irony, but Dr. Andonuts looked around, confused. "Who said what?"

They laughed, and laughed, and even Dr. Andonuts started laughing. It had been so long since anyone had been really happy, ever since their previous adventure ended. It had actually attained a sort of FUN to it, dangerous adventuring. Ness, Jeff, and even King were beginning to miss it dearly, like Paula missed the third-grade class pet the teacher had accidentally sat on and squashed (a hamster).

* * *

"Good night, Lucas," said Flint, hugging his son and closing the door.

"'Night, dad," responded Lucas. As soon as the door was shut he sprang out of bed and dressed himself all in black before sneaking out of the window.

Where was he going?

To the library, to get his favorite book.

It may have seemed like a stupid reason to sneak out, but he had just realized it before he had changed into his pajamas and knew that the book was the answer.

It was an ancient, ancient murder mystery book, full of different (and mostly unrelated) stories. Some cases were true, some weren't, but Lucas knew that people occasionally added to it by slipping handwritten pages of their own inside the back cover. It was a common practice, and the book had become a sort of ritual, to be added to each year. Lucas had even written something for it once, and he was quite sure it was a brilliant story. He had forgotten to sign his name on it, and someone had stolen it and claimed it for their own. (They had later been apprehended, because people in Tazmily also caught and arrested people based on morals.)

He crept across the lawn, to where Duster and Kumatora waited with his dog Boney.

"I can't believe you want to sneak into the library to read some book," said Duster. "What's worse, you're bringing me."

"You can open the door, can't you?" snapped Kumatora.

He fell silent and they walked to the library, where Duster quickly opened the door (his thief skills had certainly improved, and his ability to unconsciously activate the Siren Beetle had vanished). Lucas walked through with Kumatora to the high shelf where the book was located, and she got it for him. He flipped through the pages, eventually spotting "George Burns." He stopped and read it.

"It says here that someone had plotted to kill him with a train...the train that was here when Tazmily 'modernized.' He was running across the tracks when suddenly the hijacked train appeared, and the thieving murderer ran over him...killed him."

"How come we didn't hear about it before?" asked Kumatora. "When it happened, I mean."

"They probably wanted to keep it quiet," suggested Lucas.

"But it doesn't matter. It happened, and we know it."

They replaced the book and exited the library, going their separate ways. Lucas and Boney went home, but Duster escorted Kumatora through the cemetery because of zombies.

The pair had just finished incinerating undead bodies and cracking false gravestones when Kumatora had an idea. A grin on her face, she suggested they visit Hinawa's grave.

Duster agreed, and they went. They knew Hinawa's body never rose from its grave, because of the cheery sunflowers that surrounded it. They kept the body at rest and happy, somehow.

Just then, Kumatora noticed something flicker out of the corner of her eye.

"Did you see that?" she whispered to Duster.

"See what?" he growled back.

"Something just flickered..."

It happened again.

"There it is again!" she hissed.

"I saw that one..." said Duster. They turned around, fearing more zombies or possibly Fire Flies-which would burn the sunflowers and force them to re-kill Lucas' dead mother.

But it was neither. A young boy stood there. He looked about Lucas' age.

"How did you get through the graveyard?" asked Kumatora.

He did not respond, instead turning and running a short distance to their right, looking like he was about to grab something.

"Hello?" said Duster, waving his hand.

The boy's eyes widened as he turned to face Duster, he screamed, seemed to light up, and he flew up into the air and fell facedown, bleeding.

"That's physically impossible..." began Duster, when the boy vanished.

"Duster. Are you aware of what we just witnessed?" pressed Kumatora.

"Somewhat..." mumbled Duster.

"That...that was a ghost. Did you see how he lit up and appeared to be struck by something? Possibly a train?"

"You're only saying that was George Burns because he got hit by a train and it just looked like that boy was also hit by a train. There are plenty of wandering spirits out here," scoffed Duster.

"Speaking of wandering...disorientated undead, twelve o' clock," grinned Kumatora, knocking it re-dead with a well-aimed PK Freeze. "But anyway...uhm...can I stay with you and Wess tonight?"

"I get it, you're frightened of the screaming bloody flying kid," laughed Duster. "I understand, you can stay. I know Wess would agree. Come on."

Laughing and blasting zombies out of the way with assorted attacks, they walked to Duster's house, where Wess readily agreed to Kumatora's proposal.

One matter settled on Duster's mind that night: Lucas. They would HAVE to tell him tomorrow. If this ghost wouldn't go away...

* * *

Nathan, meanwhile, was pacing around the well. He was, for the first time, genuinely bored. He knew he should probably just go home to Dimension D, but in all honesty, he really wanted to stay. He had never met truer friends, or braver. And he also knew this dimension's problems never ended. He wondered if Isaac was okay. As he thought, he realized that Rycoulth was gone, at least for now, and highly disorientated, and their agreement had broken. He could visit Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo now.

But something kept him glued to this time period.

And as a boy materialized before his eyes and acted out a series of disturbing events, Nathan was certain that this was it. He needed to find out more. He would ask Lucas and the others the next morning.

Since he was staying with Lucas for the time being, he warped to Flint's home and into his own room and quickly fell asleep contemplating the day's events.

* * *

The next morning, Ness woke and began to dress. It had been an eventful night, and he was preparing to go to school when he realized it was Saturday.

He kept getting dressed, because he remembered that he was going to see a movie with Paula today. She had recently taken a liking to horror movies, which Ness found good, for he also liked horror movies.

One o' clock rolled around, and in the heat of late spring (it had been a while since he had conquered the Escaryuba with the others) he shot off to Twoson in a flash, appearing in front of Polestar Preschool (which Paula's parents owned). She was glad to get a break, since the children had been screaming and crying all day.

"Where were you last night anyway? I felt some sort of fast-moving energy coming from Onett..." began Paula.

"I teleported to Winters last night. Jeff called me on the phone. He needed my help," said Ness.

"With what?"

"Dr. Andonuts. He crawled to the gates of Snow Wood, and they put him in the infirmary. Some basic PSI healed him, since he was almost conscious anyway. He was in a coma, not dead, and he came out of it enough to crawl. The cold made him fall back into unconsciousness, but the warmth of the infirmary was rousing him and he would have woken up even if I hadn't healed him," explained Ness. They were near the theater now.

"Oh...that IS weird," said Paula. Noticing the theater's proximity, she laughed. "Some date, huh?"

"I like ghosts," argued Ness.

They laughed until they entered the theater, in which they fell silent to be polite to other people. The movie came and went, and they emerged into the three o' clock sunlight breathing hard from the sheer fright of the movie. It was the good kind of fun fright, though, and not the adrenelin-inducing stuff.

"Right. I'd better get going, my parents and the kids will be missing me. Hopefully they aren't crying now," she said, and kissed him before walking home. Ness frowned. The weird thing about that movie was that the main character reminded him of Lucas.

He missed Lucas and the others, and Nathan and Flynn too, but also had an ominous feeling that Lucas was in trouble...

Wait.

Flynn?

He was here, in Eagleland! (Ironically, he IS an eagle.)

Ness glanced around, then went home to Onett and yelled, "HEY! FLYNN!"

"No need to yell. I'm right here," called the bird from a nearby bush.

"Sorry, didn't see you there. I need you to get Nathan for me. I have to see Lucas about something. It's urgent."

"He's in the Nowhere Islands..."

"Can't you take me there?"

"I know someone who can," said Flynn, and he closed his eyes and tensed up. Moments later, a teenager dressed in red with spiky blue hair appeared from a nearby portal. He carried a brown staff with a golden orb at the end. It was not as fancy as Navenstrae, or as powerful-looking, but it crackled with energy nonetheless. He wore dark green camo pants and black military boots.

"Isaac. Can you take Ness to the Nowhere Islands, where Nathan is?" requested Flynn. "He says it's urgent."

Isaac was only a little taller than Ness, and only a little older, too. Ness did not feel intimidated by this stranger in the least.

"Wait a sec!" exclaimed Ness. "I need Hydra."

Hydra was his PSI-channeling sword he had pieced together over their previous journey, finally obtaining the gem that fit in the hilt at the bottom of the ocean. It was mostly silver, with a golden gem, and (so he had heard) a sword spoken of in legends.

Isaac grinned. "Hydra's like Navenstrae. Notice how Nathan pulls it out of thin air half the time?"

"Yeah..."

"You can do the exact same with Hydra. You just need to focus and practice it in your spare time. Nathan and Navenstrae are a crack team, and the thought only needs to cross his mind and BOOM! it's there. Try it out."

Ness concentrated hard on Hydra, and it alone. The shining silver blade burst clearly into his mind, and suddenly he felt something drop into his hand. It was light, like it was made of titanium, but filled him with a sense of power. He knew that hilt...hilt?

Hydra!

The sword had been hanging on his wall now for some time, but he dueled the peculiar tree in his backyard every so often for practice, and sometimes bought a watermelon (people randomly donated money to him for saving the world from Giygas) and split it open, imagining it was some sort of enemy he so longed to fight.

Isaac, meanwhile, had opened a portal and was waiting for Ness to enter it.

"I'll be back soon, and Isaac?"

"Yeah?"

"If I don't come back soon, within a day, I'm probably dealing with something. In that case, can you get Paula Polestar, Jeff Andonuts, and Prince Poo of Dalaam as well as my dog King and send them to the Nowhere Islands?"

"It's as good as done...or it will be when it actually happens." Isaac laughed, and so did Flynn. Ness dove into the portal. The blue faded into black, there was the sensation of being shot out of a gun, and the world erupted into rainbow colours. It was a psychedelic experience, and Ness knew he was flying faster than light, through time and space.

Some random objects floated, lost in this peculiar world, and he saw other portal travellers zooming to their destinations. He flew into a portal and the rainbow colours faded, to be replaced by black. He felt like he was being gently eased back into the gun and translucent blue appeared. He could see Lucas' home, and then the blue vanished with the portal as he flew out of it and miraculously landed on his feet this time (which was good, because he was holding a sharp sword).

He spotted Lucas just leaving his house, and charged to meet him, waving Hydra and shouting. Lucas hugged his great-grandfather from the past, and a grinning (if ruffled) Ness greeted him.

"Long time, no see, eh?" he laughed.

"How...why...but..." sputtered Lucas.

"I had the feeling something was wrong here. Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Yes, actually..."

But before Lucas could finish Duster and Kumatora tore across the lawn and ran to them.

"Lucas!" cried a panting Kumatora, clutching Duster's arm. "We ran all the way from Duster's house in the fields...just...to tell you..."

Duster, who was less out-of-breath, finished. "We saw George Burns. Last night. Oh, hi, Ness. Wait...NESS! How the hell..."

"Portal," he explained.

"But...why!" exclaimed Duster.

"Well, tell me the rest of the story, and I'll explain," said Ness resolutely.

* * *

As it turned out, the spirit of a young boy named George Burns was haunting Tazmily. He had been killed...MURDERED by a train, which was hijacked and timed to hit the boy as he crossed the tracks. He kept acting out disturbing scenes of his death, and as Nathan ran up to them he explained that last night, he had seen Burns as well.

"This...this is really weird..." said Ness. "The strangest thing is...I just watched a movie like this with Paula...at the theater..."

"Maybe it was fate," said Nathan.

"Could be," agreed Ness.

"Say..." began Duster. "Can't you use that Ekspulca thing on the ghost?"

"No, I only use that for evil spirits...it kind of hurts them," said Nathan. "Very painful for everyone and everything involved to be suddenly exorcised from anywhere by magic. Ectoplasm everywhere, big fat mess. I don't want people scrubbing glowing green slime off of their windows all day. I don't want to hurt this boy. He could be very troubled. There's a less painful way."

"Which is?" prompted Kumatora.

"Solving the mystery of the kid's murder. I saw that book. They never caught the murderer. They only knew that George Burns was killed by a train. Those events you witnessed in the cemetery? The ones I witnessed by the well? That was him, being hit by an invisible train. He's trying to tell us how he died, but we already KNOW that..."

"They used a Ouija board in that movie," mused Ness.

"We're not doing that, we might connect with something a little...worse," said Nathan finally, unable to properly describe the horrors that could connect with the peculiar board.

"Oh yeah," said Ness, thinking about the aftermath of that in the movie.

"Right. So we can't exorcise or use a Ouija board..." said Duster.

It was beginning to rain. As Ness watched the small droplets...

Small droplets!

Condensation! Writing!

"GUYS! We need to breathe on a window! The drop in temperature SHOULD create condensation!" exclaimed Ness.

"You're brilliant!" shouted Nathan. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

They walked to the front of Lucas' house and breathed on the front window, or at least Lucas did.

"Who are you?" commanded Nathan.

G. E. O. R. G. E. B.U.R.N.S.

"We figured that much," muttered Kumatora savagely.

W.E.L.L. N.O. D.U.H P.R.I.N.C.E.S.S

Kumatora looked furious but Duster covered her mouth to prevent a spectral argument.

"Who would want to kill you!" commanded Nathan.

Y.E.S.

"That's weird...that wasn't a yes or no question," said Duster.

"Who killed you?" asked Ness, more calmly than Nathan.

Y.E.S.

Same writing. Lucas breathed on the window again.

"Was that a yes or no question?" asked Lucas.

N.O. I.T. W.A.S. F.R.E.E. A.N.S

"Free ans?" asked Lucas.

"Answer," said Nathan. "A free-answer, open answer, whatever."

"Why did you answer it 'yes'?" asked Ness.

N.O. T.E.L.L.

"Why?"

S.P.I.R.I.T.T.E.L.L.I.N.G.P.O.W.E.R.L.I.M.I.T.E.D.

"It's getting harder to read..." said Nathan, gritting his teeth.

Kumatora suddenly pushed Duster's hand aside. "That writing is coming from inside!" she cried.

Y.E.S.

"Right. That's all we need to know. Thank you, George," said Nathan sincerely.

N.P.

Then the writing all vanished, as did the condensation.

* * *

The next day, Paula had gone out for a walk when a teenager appeared in front of her.

"Paula."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Isaac. Nathan might have mentioned me," replied the teenager, who was indeed Isaac. "Ness told me to fetch you, Jeff Andonuts, Prince Poo of Dalaam, and his dog King if he wasn't back by today."

"Where is he?" asked Paula.

"The Nowhere Islands."

Three minutes later, they had teleported to each respective person...and animal...and brought them to Onett, where Ness had entered the portal.

"Okay. Ness will probably tell you what's going on. Now, go into the portal!" he said, as he drew the appropriate portal runes.

And they dove into the portal and to the Nowhere Islands.

* * *

Review, please!

Intense or just plain weird? You decide!

So how's the sequel shaping up so far? If you like it, review!

Sorry for the ghost stuff, it's just a plot element. You'll see some physical foes later.

I really should have titled this chapter "To Nowhere," because I changed my plans of Lucas and co. coming to Eagleland to Ness and co. coming to the Nowhere Islands.

But anyway.

Next Chapter: Paranormal


	3. Paranormal

Chapter 3: Paranormal

No notes here...

* * *

Paula frowned. It was dark and stormy. Ness ought to be somewhere around here, along with Lucas, Duster, Kumatora, Boney, and probably Nathan.

"I find it peculiar that it is nighttime here and daylight in Eagleland and Dalaam," remarked Poo.

"It IS daylight here," said a voice from behind them.

"Nathan!" shouted Jeff in surprise, adjusting his glasses (they had been knocked askew during the portal travel.

"It looks dark to me," said Paula.

"Nope. Some Order members found an unused machine out here, and they've destroyed it. There are just a few after-effects...which should be fading right about now." He glanced around as the sky lightened and the rain stopped. The clouds parted to reveal a morning sun, fresh in the sky.

"Oh," said Paula. "That's odd."

Just then, Ness came hurtling through the bushes with Hydra. Between the trees, Poo spotted Lucas' house, but no Lucas.

"Nathan! I just found out something really weird!" he gasped between breaths, not noticing Paula, Jeff, Poo, or King.

Boney came after Ness, panting. When he saw King, the two dogs yipped with delight and greeted each other enthusiastically, with wagging tails.

"What is it?" asked Nathan.

"He wasn't even buried here! They just know that he died, because they found his blood and a torn, flat shoe," explained Ness. Then he noticed Paula, Jeff, Poo, and King. They happily walked back to Lucas' house, where they met the others. It was a happy reunion of the two groups, but even that and the bright, cheery sun overhead could not distract Ness, Nathan, Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney from the dreadful thing they had to do.

They were trying to find out more about George Burns.

The situation was explained to the other four at Lucas' house, and they traveled into the Sunshine Forest to look for clues. They hadn't looked there yet.

* * *

Ness, Kumatora, and Nathan trudged through the dense forest. They had not found much, besides some prey bones from wild cats and owl pellets, and hopes were low. Luckily, Hydra seemed to know exactly where the needed to go. It kept jerking Ness to the east, towards the dense bushes of the forest.

"Okay, okay!" cried Ness finally, and he walked to the east until they ran into the bushes.

"Now what?" said Kumatora.

"This is what," said Ness, and he cut apart the bushes.

Nothing.

"I think a murderer would hide the body deeper, you know," informed Nathan, and he motioned for them to step back. In a very fast motion, he leapt up and blasted away the ground with a single small bolt from Navenstrae.

Still nothing.

Frowning, Nathan conjured up three shovels.

"Here. We'll dig. Another blast like that and we'll have the whole forest on fire. Again." He handed the shovels to Ness and Kumatora, who both began digging around near the edges of the crater. He himself dug straight down. After a few minutes, though, it was Kumatora who yelled.

"Hey! I think I found something!"

Nathan and Ness immediately dug around the area where she had been digging, but it was only an old clump of roots from a monstrous tree that had long since been cut down. The stump must have been nearby.

Nathan went back to digging, and Kumatora tried another spot, but Ness noticed that the leaves of the bushes in one nearby spot were pale and whitish. He poked one with Hydra and dirt fell off of it, like dust, revealing a green leaf underneath.

Ness knew that sometimes, where the soil was loose, upturned, or recently dug up, and it rained, the soil would splatter everywhere. When it landed on leaves, it created a thin veil of silt.

But nobody had dug here...at least not recently.

Unless...

"We need to go back and check the books," announced Ness.

Nathan and Kumatora stopped digging.

"Why?" asked Kumatora.

"You get the others, Kumatora. Duster, Paula, and Jeff are just over there, around the corner and further down. I have a job to do," said Ness. And before anyone could say anything, Ness grabbed Nathan's arm and teleported to the library.

"Why'd you drag me along?" mumbled Nathan, still holding the shovel.

"Come on," pressured Ness, helping him up and running into the library. He KNEW something had to be here...

He ran to the section Lucas had mentioned and picked out the biggest, oldest book there was. Handwritten pages poked out from the back. As Nathan followed, he suddenly understood what Ness was doing.

"Anything about the Sunshine Forest?" asked Nathan.

"Nothing in particular-but here! Look!" exclaimed Ness, earning him a few angry looks from quiet patrons. He ignored them.

"Kids these days...so rude..." grumbled an old woman. Nathan scowled and levitated the book in front of him, earning himself a few amazed looks as he scanned the page.

"Fascinating...it mentioned the entire Nowhere Islands...that INCLUDES the forest!" he cried.

The page read: "The day after Burns' death, the day of his funeral, it rained and clouds coated the sky all over the Nowhere Islands. It was so depressing that many people simply burst into tears, and even the weather mourned the boy's death."

"His funeral was the day after his death, see, and it rained...and soil doesn't settle in one day. Assuming he was buried the day he was murdered, or that same day, the loose soil would have been disturbed by the rain and splattered onto the nearby leaves of bushes," explained Ness.

Nathan nodded in agreement. "Good thinking. We should probably get back, though..."

"Agreed," said Ness, and they warped out of the library, causing several people to scream.

Ness had had his back to the window. Nathan neglected to mention to Ness the fact that, as he spoke, the window had fogged up, and every time Ness made a point, a check mark appeared in the condensation, as if written by a ghostly finger.

They sprinted back to meet up with Kumatora and the others, and the entire group walked up to the small crater. Ness and Nathan, with their trusty shovels, dug out the area around the old stump, where the bushes had silt on their leaves.

"Observe," ordered Ness, and the group watched as the pair blasted the stump away with a combined PSI-magic attack. And when the cloud of dust cleared, Ness and Nathan were standing next to a brown, broken skull.

("Why is it brown?") asked Boney.

"It's just dirt," said Nathan, and a quick wind spell blew the dry dirt off.

Just then, it began to rain, and the sky clouded up. Ness and Nathan exchanged amused looks.

"That can't be related to anything, can it?" asked Ness.

"Surely you jest," replied Nathan, smiling.

"Definitely a sign that we got something right. And don't call me Shirley."

* * *

They trekked through the dampening forest. Ness pointed out to the rest how he had determined where the bones were. As raindrops hit loose dirt from recent digging (by them, of course), it spattered onto plant leaves.

"But how do the bones help us?" asked Paula.

"We can detect, by magic, what exactly happened," said Nathan. But as he began the spell, a rusty, battered, wet-looking train with vines on it came flying out of the bushes. A shield was quickly put up, to block the train, but it just flew through the shield...and them. Their blood turned cold as they realized what had happened, and that a horrible scream came from behind them and glowing blood spattered the ground around them, before it all faded.

Ness had his arm around Paula, and he bit his lip nervously. "Any signs out of that?" he asked Nathan.

("Dark energy...we dogs can sense it more easily than most humans...or wizards, for that matter,") answered King instead.

"Dark energy?" wondered Duster.

"It's a trace of an evil entity. It can tell you where that entity has been, and can become attached to objects. Ever see a haunted doll movie? It really happens when an evil entity spends too much time near dolls. They are...adversely affected," explained Nathan somberly.

A trembling Jeff asked, "But what defines an evil entity, and how does a train become spectral if it has no energy?"

"To answer your first question? An entity with many dark thoughts, that has committed murder, or casts many dark spells, or a combination of any of these. The second? Trains have a lot of potential and kinetic energy. It's not the same as soul energy, but since it's all energy a soul can possibly use the energy of an inanimate object for a spectral appearance and recreation...possibly of the death of its former body," said Nathan.

"But that train seemed...old, and destroyed," piped up Duster.

"It's because the Vermillion Bullet crashed. After it hit Burns, the driver was probably unconscious from shock, or maybe too stunned as to what had just happened to steer properly. The train exited the cave and careened into the ocean. The splash woke the driver up in time to open the doors, and everyone escaped, but for some reason nobody has any memory of it...I remember that Fuel was riding the train, and he asked me if I knew why he was wet..." trailed off Lucas. "It was in the papers, the crash, because a reporter looking for inspiration saw it and went to help. Soon everyone knew what had happened...besides Kumatora, probably, because she doesn't get the paper. My dad spat out his coffee when he read it."

Nathan nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. It was either shock that caused these people to forget the incident-a subconscious method of coping with intense trauma-or whatever marked that train with evil energy. The shell of the train itself has become imbued with that energy, while its energy simply carries a trace of it...if it was found and restarted, it would likely malfunction and attempt to kill people."

Duster gasped. "Oh, yes! I remember!"

"From what I have gathered, something evil hijacked the train, and it left a trace of its own energy upon the shell, which crashed into the ocean after killing George Burns, and nobody has any memories whatsoever of being involved in the incident besides that news reporter," summarized Poo.

"That sounds about right," rasped Ness, clearing his throat.

"We need more clues, if you ask me," said Paula.

* * *

Nathan, after briskly explaining that they might need to go into the ocean again, led them to the old caves. Lucas proceeded to use a PK Burst and blast the boards away, and they entered.

It was a brief walk to the exit, and they found themselves on a bank near the ocean. The sand here seemed a little messy, and some plants had been bent almost in half, only staying alive by the fact that their innards were still intact and that they emitted an odor that was highly unpleasant to insects but undetectable by humans.

"Fascinating..." remarked Jeff. "We may have found the very spot that the Vermillion Bullet sank beneath the waves." He pointed to a spot out in the ocean, where seagulls pecked at something. Just then, Nathan vanished and reappeared with Fuel.

"Who are you?" Fuel asked Nathan. They were the same age, Lucas realized, but Nathan seemed taller and more mature.

"Fuel!" cried Lucas.

"Oh. Hey, Lucas," greeted Fuel. "Wait...where am I? What is this?"

Duster frowned, and Poo, being the diplomatically gifted prince that he was, proceeded to explain their situation even better than Nathan had to Poo himself.

"I brought you here to ask if you remembered anything about the train wreck you were in," Nathan told Fuel.

"I don't remember it, sorry. I just remember the newspaper," said Fuel. "Sorry."

Just then, Jeff frowned. "My dad still isn't very well..." It had crossed his mind for the first time since he had arrived.

Nathan grinned. "He'll be fine. I heard about the deal from Isaac, who visited Winters to get you."

"Talking about my brother?" called a voice. Lynn and her pink wyvern came soaring down out of the sky.

"Ah. Hello, Lynn. We were just talking about Isaac, yes," said Nathan, as if a girl and a dragon hadn't just swooped down out of the blue.

"He'll handle it, trust me. Say, what's going on here?" she added.

"Hello, Lynn," said Paula. "Uhm...see...we were just about to dive underwater."

Lynn opened her mouth to respond, but it turned into a gape of shock as she spotted something behind them all.

"Aah!" cried Kumatora, who was closest to the emerging head.

"Aa...Arcturus!" exclaimed Nathan. "What...what were you doing down there!"

Nathan's blue wyvern, Arcturus, seemed very unique in the respect that he was the only pure blue wyvern they had ever seen. Others were blue-grey, some pure grey, others pink, others red (these breathed the hottest flames), and a myriad of other colors. Even rarer green wyverns (which spewed a sort of floating liquid posion) were more common than pure blue.

("Taking a nap,") replied the wyvern pleasantly.

Nathan worriedly folded and unfolded the leathery wings sprouting from his back, hidden under the cape he wore.

The strange thing about Nathan was, that despite being human in most respects, part of his (and his sister's) DNA was dragon DNA, and he seemed unusually tough and strong. And he had wings. Usually, he flew using the rocket boosters in his shoes, as to not alarm people that didn't know about his wings, but since everyone but Fuel knew about them, he didn't bother with secrecy. The even stranger thing was that, despite being part-giant-scaly-winged-fire-breathing-reptile, he was a brilliant wizard and second-in-command of the organization known as the Order of the Dragon.

Anyway, back to the story.

"Why didn't you tell me you could breathe underwater!" roared Nathan.

("Didn't think it would be much use, what with magic,") thought-spoke Arcturus casually.

"But...have you realized what use this is!" asked Nathan. "We were just about to go under..."

("For what?")

"To find the Vermillion Bullet, and see if it crashed here."

Arcturus nodded. ("I heard something like a train right before I fell asleep. It sounded muffled.")

Paula stepped forward. "That sounds like it. Can you go back down and check?"

Arcturus nodded again and plunged back into the depths, wriggling like a snake. Moments later he emerged, terrified and wet, and skyrocketed before diving and hovering a couple of feet above the ground.

"What? What was it?" inquired Duster, who could not understand telepathy but knew what a frightened wyvern looked like.

("I don't know! It had a bright light in front, and it had a deep, low noise like a foghorn, and there was blood on it...and vines...")

Kumatora translated for Duster as Ness frowned.

"It obviously sounds like a train..." he began, when suddenly a cloud of blackness burst out from the surface of the ocean and covered the already overcast, drizzly sky. The air turned cold and dark, and suddenly a bright light hit them. They recoiled, and as their eyes adjusted to the brightness they noticed something emerging from the water.

It was the Vermillion Bullet.

The rusted orange-and-white shell was stained by scarlet blood on the front, a memory of how it had killed George Burns under the influence of some dark, evil entity. It was so close that they could feel its pulsating hatred and bloodlust, and as it mysteriously fired up (there was no fuel in it) it let out a low moan. The vines, a sort of underwater plant, quivered like gelatin.

It charged.

"EKSPULCA!" roared Nathan as Ness and Lucas leapt to the sides and impaled the train on either side. Vines snapped, and something burst into flame as dark ectoplasm was slowly and painfully being drawn from the train.

It wasn't going to give up very easily. Lynn and Boney had no idea how to use that spell, but Lucas, Ness, and King had some idea of some way to defeat it, somehow.

Light vanquishes dark, right?

And what PSI did they know-or know how to create-that involved light?

PSI Lightstorm.

"PK ROCKIN'!"

"PK LOVE!"

("PK SILVER!")

Multicoloured light swirled around the train, and it shrunk back, confused but fighting with its own dark energies. Then white light erupted in the center of the light hurricane, damaging the train. The multicolored light suddenly swirled very close to it, and then it was not even it circle, it had all collided-

BOOM!

There was an enormous explosion like that at the end of PK Rockin' Ç. Then white light was swirling around the Bullet, and silver lightningbolts leapt through the center of the ring of light, crackling with heat and power and short-circuiting what electricity there was in the train. A large bolt of blue, red, and yellow light struck it as the silver bolts continued to hit it. The ring of white light became smaller and smaller until-

BOOM!

Another large explosion, this time made of white light, shook the floor. Silver light swirled like a hurricane, just as the other two types had before. Multicoloured bolts of light arced through the ring. A large bolt of white lightning struck twice as the flow of multicoloured lightningbolts increased. The silver light came closer and closer-

BOOM!

The very air trembled, as did the ground. The caves nearby collapsed under the pressure.

All three types of light erupted into being in the center of the train, and it exploded in a clash of light and darkness like Rycoulth's dead clones. The remaining dark energy was quickly exorcised from the quickly restored shell as Lynn and Boney pitched in, having no idea how to use the spell but knowing the incantation and the requirements for all spells.

"SHRIIIEEEEEEEE!"

A horrible shriek filled the air and then, as soon as it had started, it was over.

A repaired Vermillion Bullet was sitting there, and it looked as good as new. No blood, no vines, no rust, no anything. It was like nothing had ever happened, except for the large pile of decomposing human remains it had left near the surface (these were buried in a mass grave by a sickened, tearful Lynn) and the whole group solemnly flew back to Tazmily on the two wyverns.

* * *

As Ness and Paula relaxed on a bench, enjoying the sunshine they hadn't felt in ages (because of the machines and Escaryuba) and thinking.

Ah...it was good to be here. But even though they had solved yet another problem with the others, it didn't mean they would all be together forever. They had to go home to their worrying parents, after all.

"Don't you wish we could stay here forever?" Ness asked Paula.

"Ah, yes, that sounds great. If only..." She trailed off.

"But we do need to get home...what a shame," said Ness resolutely, and after a few minutes he and Paula got up, found Jeff, Poo, and King, said goodbye to their friends, and then got Nathan.

"Yes, I suppose you SHOULD get home...I'll miss you guys," he muttered when they told him.

"You can travel through time in the blink of an eye and teleport even faster than that. You don't have to miss us," grinned Ness.

"Yes, but I have to stay to instruct Boney," he reminded them.

"Have you ever heard of the concept of 'visiting?'" asked Jeff, to general laughter (even from Nathan).

"Right...well...you guys go home, I'll visit you sometime soon, alright? Go on, then." He gestured towards the portal he had created faster than they realized he had done it, and the five stepped into it.

They had solved the mystery of George Burns' death, avenged him by defeating, humiliating, and severely damaging the evil energy from the entity that had hijacked the train and caused it to kill him (as well as sending it away to a place where it would get proper treatment), and probably damaging the entity itself (which was still out there, they were sure of it). And all was well.

Or at least, it was in the Nowhere Islands.

Eagleland was another story altogether...

* * *

Review, please!

How did you like this chapter? Good? Bad? In-between? I want to know how I'm doing with the sequel, ya know! ;)

LOL! I c/p'd the lightstorm thing and edited it from Chap. 14 of ROTE...I didn't feel like re-writing it. :P

Anyway...

I think I'll make use of the Vermillion Bullet. I mean, who leaves a perfectly good train sitting out in the open, huh? So maybe I'll use it...

*jots down idea that nobody is allowed to see*

Alright, I have the idea ready. Be prepared to see it again!

My mother has this fantastic story idea that I will not tell anyone else, and it's a pretty fantastic idea. It messes with your mind, and would make a brilliant movie. Just saying.

You know, other people call me lordofroosters...so if you know lordofroosters, you know me. I'm on other sites. I guess. Somehow. And I'm listening to Coldplay. Does that make any sense?

Meh.

Go click the nearest button with an orange bubble and that is centered in the screen.

Until next time...

¡Adios, amigos!


	4. Speed of Sound

Chapter 4: Speed of Sound

This chapter may or may not shock you.

Meh.

DISCLAIMER: Again. I own nothing. Except:

Nathan

Lynn

Jack

Isaac

Flynn

Natalie

The Order of the Dragon

The Vermillion Bullet

George Burns (and the related story)

Rycoulth

Gygath

That book (I would say the Tazmily Library, because there wasn't one in-game, as far as I remember, but a) it's been used in another fic and b) I'm not 100% sure that it wasn't in-game, it may have been)

All the spells listed or mentioned (and they're all original, nothing was stolen from JK Rowling, no matter how tempting it was to use that incantation...I turned to roots of other languages)

Hydra

Scylla

Navenstrae

The island mentioned in ROTE that was next to the Nowhere Islands

The mysteriously undocumented location within the Sunshine Forest (is that even its name?)

I wonder if copyrights wear off after fifty years...if so, I shall re-copyright the AK-47, because it's awesome.

All AKs are awesome.

I don't know much about guns (I'm a sword person, really), but I can say that much.

I...I...I...I have a foot of snow around my house...and...and I don't know what to do with it...

[/stuttering]

READ and REVIEW! (Enjoy!)

* * *

Ness lounged, half-asleep, on the couch. He felt relatively annoyed. There was nothing to DO.

It had been a fun mini-adventure, but now that it was over he felt like crying. And tomorrow he would have to explain his absences at school, not to mention Paula's.

King woofed quietly in his sleep as the night progressed.

Paula sighed. They were back at school, and Derrick was bothering them once more. He was still begging Paula to go out with him, until finally an irritated Ness pushed Derrick into a classroom and closed the door.

"I can't believe that Mrs. Jay took that excuse, though," said Paula quietly.

"She wouldn't have believed us if I said where we had REALLY been," reminded Ness. Paula shrugged.

"Come on, we're going to be late for second period," she sighed, and they walked to their class just on time.

"How are you today, Dr. Andonuts?" asked the smiling nurse.

"Very well, thank you, Miss Pennyfeather," replied the Doctor, smiling back.

"Would you like anything?"

"No, no thank you," said Dr. Andonuts, in a less cheery voice.

Miss Pennyfeather, detecting the peculiar change in his voice, asked what was wrong.

"Oh, nothing," he answered. "It's just that my most prized and valuable inventions were in that room when the explosion occured..."

"I have reason to believe that most are undamaged," announced a voice as Jeff strolled into the infirmary. "Dad-the fireball shot out of the side, towards the freezing cold! The change in air pressure and temperature drew the hot fireball towards the opening, and that's why we ran that way, so we could get out of the way. You stayed in the lab, and got in its way, so you sort of flew out into the woods, and we thought you were dead, and we couldn't get your body because of those...THINGS coming out of the trees. Good thing, too, because we would have buried you alive," explained Jeff.

"That DOES sound like a reasonable explanation," said Dr. Andonuts, slowly.

THUMP.

The wall shook slightly, as if something had crashed into it. The three exchanged glances.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

More shaking.

It sounded as if an army of creatures was crashing into the wall!

Jeff frowned, then wordlessly rushed out of the room and into his, grabbing the Gaia Beam and firing it blindly out of the window. When he saw what he had hit, he stopped short.

"What the HELL is that?" he wondered to himself.

A large brown beast lay in the snow, sizzling. The others stopped attacking the wall and fled, terrified, back into the forest.

"I've never seen anything like it!" exclaimed Jeff. He ran downstairs and out of the door, then around the side (still holding the Gaia Beam, just in case) of the building.

"What are you doing, Jeff?" called Tony from the second-story window.

"Examining this...whatever it is. For now I'll call it Marron Romperi. It's brown and has a tendency to break things, and that spell Boney used is called Romperis, so I called it Romperi. I known it's not Latin, 'll have to do if I reference to it. Maybe later we'll find out their names. Can you toss me a camera?"

Tony obeyed, and Jeff took several photos from different angles before re-entering the building.

Unlike Ness and Paula's teachers, Jeff's teachers knew of his escapades with the group while fighting the Escaryuba, and he was exempt from those classes (he was smarter than the kids who had actually taken the classes anyway, and then some). And because of that, they also believed him when he explained his short adventure in the Nowhere Islands.

* * *

It was turning colder, and Ness missed baseball. Paula missed long summer days just strolling around looking at things. They both knew that one teleport could take them to Summers and the nearby village of...what was it called again? It was a fishing town, full of immigrants and small shacks, and it was overcrowded. However, a trusted captain had taken them to Scaraba, and they liked and respected the villagers.

Meanwhile, the rich city of Summers prospered and had many tourists. It was a friendly city, full of clubs and hotels and happy residents. The beach was always nearby, and it only took one moment to walk down. Ness, contemplating going to Summers for a few hours, wondered whether or not to actually go.

Just then:

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Such an annoying knock!" cried Tracy, Ness' younger sister (who, against all child labor laws, had somehow gotten a job with Escargo Express). "Ness, can you answer it? I've got homework."

Like I don't, thought Ness to himself. His sister was only in sixth grade, whereas he was a ninth-grader and teachers were piling on the homework mid-year. But he answered it anyway.

"Picky! What are you doing here!"

Pokey Minch, who was Ness' age, had become entranced by Giygas' power. After attempting to murder Paula (Ness still shuddered at the thought of coming to the rescue a day later than he had; Paula would probably be dead) he had risen to an executive position working for a man named Monotolli, whom Ness had met and who had changed his ways after meeting Paula and having some odd visions-the only non-psychic person he knew to have anything of that sort. His father had keept his well-paying job, but Pokey had quit and joined Giygas' army as second-in-command. After his alien spider mount was destroyed, he had left the group to fight Giygas' true energy.

He had traveled through time, visiting an era that occurred just after Ness' (and probably the rest of the Chosen Four) death, where the world had ended and now there were a few islands, occupied by rural villages. Ness' great-grandson Lucas had lived there, along with his parents and brother Claus. Pokey (rechristened Porky) had formed a "Pigmask Army" and invaded Tazmily, hell-bent on stopping Ness' family line and obtaining world domination. But Lucas, Duster, Kumatora, and Boney had stopped him. This was after Porky's evil had killed Lucas' mother Hinawa and Claus, and he had turned Claus into a chimera known as the Masked Man. After realizing who he truly was, Claus had killed himself with a piece of his own shattered armor. Lucas had not taken his brother's sword, in honor of his death, and he had Scylla anyway.

He had a younger brother called Picky, who was nothing like his brother. He was very nice, Tracy's age, polite, and showed no signs of being corrupted by anything. Ness' mother was sure Picky would grow up to be a respectable man, unlike his pitiful brother (who had attained eternal youth, but at the price of maturity and being trapped forever), but at the moment, Picky was at the door, and it was now. (Jeez, that was a long backstory.)

"What do you want?" asked Tracy. She and Picky, formerly friends, were bickering now. Ness chuckled; he and Paula had been like that shortly before defeating Giygas. They were still squabbling up until after they met Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney, and had found Jeff in a stormy alleyway, hiding from zombies. They entered an abandoned theater, and when a terrifying incident occured, they had become...a little more than friends.

But anyway.

"Something's going on with the meteor! Up on the hill!" exclaimed Picky, talking to Ness. He did not hesitate in summoning Hydra (it took a minute, of course) and sprinting out the door. Picky followed him, and after a minute's run they were there, and they found the meteor sparking and spraying fire.

"I wonder what it is...?" muttered Ness. He poked it gently with Hydra, and it spewed a column of sparks high into the air. Ignoring common sense, he lightly touched it with his finger, and it reacted quite differently.

The sparking and fire stopped, and a chip broke off and flew into Ness' hand. It immediately started glowing brightly; when it had stopped, it had smoothed itself out and formed a shape Ness recognized as the complete Sound Stone. It played the melody of the eight Sanctuaries, and then stopped. Ness played the melody again, but could not understand why it had returned.

The third time he played it, however, something very weird happened.

"We...come...get...you...eat...kill...maul...destroy...we...shall...win...and...conquer..."

These words were faintly heard under the song. Ness scowled.

"Oh, great. Death threats." He paused. "Picky, thanks for the information. I need to go now."

"Where?" asked Picky, intrigued.

"Dalaam. Poo might know something, or have the wisdom to figure it out. PSI Teleport!"

He whirled around and vanished in a flash. Picky turned to go home, but something black flew from the bushes and attacked him.

"AAH!" he screamed. "HELP!"

As if in response, a red bolt of energy came from the sky and, perfectly aimed, vaporized the black creature attacking him.

Picky could find no explanation, but he nodded anyway. "Thank you, whoever you are."

And he walked home, not noticing the large eagle that soared overhead in the clear blue sky, chuckling to himself.

* * *

Isaac thought to himself. He, like Flynn, had just saved an innocent bystander from a nasty fate (a burning car, and Isaac had extinguished and repaired it from the bushes, saving the person inside).

The Order of the Dragon stated to keep magic a secret. Those who spotted it were welcome to talk to Order members about it, and even join the Order (you didn't need to know magic to join the Order, but most Order members knew magic to even a slight degree), but other than that, keep quiet.

The Order of the Dragon ALSO stated to save innocent bystanders if public services are unable to, or if they're attacked when alone. How are you supposed to keep secret when you're firing a spell that can usually be seen, and everyone will know? Isaac obeyed both rules, but was still unsure about HOW it worked, even though when he saved a person nobody noticed that he had done it.

A third rule was to never kill a non-evil human or other sentient entity, or an innocent animal. If a rabid dog attacked someone, and you had to euthanize it (which would have to be done anyway), that was alright. If you randomly killed a dog, that was certainly against the rules.

But what about aliens? If an alien was trying to kill someone, did that make it evil, or did it actually have to kill to become evil, and killing it would be against the rules, which were like laws.

And an evil entity was defined as an entity that had killed...but what if it hadn't killed just to kill, what if it killed to protect, like any Order member would have to do?

That didn't make it evil...did it?

He'd have to check.

* * *

Ness sprinted through Dalaam. He had to get to the palace, and it was a long run.

Finally, gasping, he reached the gates of the palace.

Poo, who hadn't been himself last time Ness had seen him here, gladly welcomed Ness into the palace and gave him some fresh water, seeing that Ness was thirsty from his long run.

"So why have you come here?" asked Poo, when they were both comfortably situated on cushions of the finest quality.

"Well," said Ness, "listen to this." He handed Poo the Sound Stone, and the melody played.

"It is the same as ever."

"Try it again."

The same melody.

"Now try it a third time," prompted Ness.

This time, the words were faintly heard once more, except that they were a bit louder than when Ness had first heard them.

Several minutes passed in silence.

"That...is peculiar, to say the least," stated Poo finally.

"Yeah. I can't tell what it means. The meteor up at the top of the hill tossed out a rock, and that rock started glowing and transformed into this," said Ness.

"That is even more peculiar, if I may say so," commented Poo.

Ness examined the Sound Stone. "It has every contour that I can remember. Here's that crack from when I dropped it in Giant Step, and here are the smooth edges from me gripping it in that one spot all the time, and here are the cracks that formed immediately before it split into eight back at the final Sanctuary...I don't get it. How can it have ever been repaired?"

"I would say that an item like that has tremendous power and potential. It will not go easily," said Poo. "Or at least that is what I think. As for the message contained in the third playing of the melody, I would not know. It could be just a threat, to frighten you, but no teenager could have set up what the Sound Stone had done. It would require power, possibly equivalent or greater than ours..."

Ness nodded. "Thanks for the help. I have to go now."

Poo also nodded. "Come whenever you wish. Seeing as I am not yet King, I shall still have time on my hands!" he called after Ness.

"Understood!"

Ness flew out of the palace gates at a teleport speed.

"So..." he began, speaking to himself, but the fact that his atoms were disassembled, flown through the very fabric of space at incredibly speeds, and then reassembled gave him little time to think on the fly. So he had teleported himself to the small shop near Snow Wood, so that he could think while he went to see Jeff. Vaulting over the boarding school gates (nobody would mind, because it was Ness), he trudged through the thick snow to the front door.

"So it would take a very powerful being...I know that much, at least."

He hadn't even knocked when Jeff tore open the door and hurriedly rushed him inside, to the warmth of Snow Wood. He had to admit, now that the walls were red once more instead of that weird shade of green, the place looked and felt friendlier. It felt like a VERY large house full of relatives.

But Ness knew that despite its feel and look it was a boarding school anyway, and rather boring to enroll in, unless you were Jeff, who had a room full of inventions to mess with and a mind to make more inventions to...mess around with.

"What's up, Ness?" asked Jeff.

"You never say 'what's up'...what's the matter with you!" exclaimed Ness, leaping back and unsheathing the broad silver sword he now carried at all times.

Jeff smirked and pointed over his shoulder. Two students met, and they both yelled "WHAT'S UP?" very loudly.

"A trend? At a boarding school?" asked Ness suspiciously.

"It IS a type of school," said Jeff.

Ness scowled (trends weren't really his thing; they were more Paula's), but continued on his business.

"Jeff, listen to this."

He showed him the repaired Sound Stone and played it twice before looking pointedly at Jeff.

"There's nothing unus..." began Jeff, but Ness played it a third time. Once more, voices were heard.

Jeff was silent for a few minutes, as was Poo.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Ness went over to it and opened it, to see-

"Paula?" he asked.

"Ness!" she exclaimed, although rather quietly, but she smiled nonetheless.

"What are you doing here?" he inquired.

"I came to see Dr. Andonuts. He was always so kind...Jeff said he'd open the door, but I guess he's right there...what are you doing here?" She had both answered his question and parried it with a second.

"I had to see Jeff about something. I saw Poo just before now."

"And what was that? You could have shown me too, you know..." asked Paula sharply.

He scowled and showed her the Sound Stone.

"Ness, play it three times," ordered Jeff. Ness obeyed. The first two times earned no expression from Paula but confusion.

The third time, the voices were almost a scream, and everyone in the room jumped (which only included the two boys in the background, Ness, Jeff, and Paula).

"What...what was that?" asked Paula.

"That was a 'miracle' of the newly repaired Sound Stone," replied Ness tonelessly. "I found it near the meteor. Actually, the meteor spit it out. It was an ordinary rock, but then it turned into the Sound Stone."

Frowning, Paula examined it closely. "It doesn't LOOK any different."

"That's what I said."

"That's what she said!" shouted one of the boys from the back of the room, and he and his friend burst into raucous giggles.

"Ignore them, they're morons," muttered Jeff.

Ness explained the rest of the Sound Stone mystery to the other two, then twirled Hydra silently, lost in thought.

"You know, the fact that it plays every third time seems weird to me..." said Paula.

Ness almost dropped Hydra.

"There's a clue! So what's said in the message and WHEN the message plays...who could be trying to kill us and destroy our cities?"

"Nyelskeb?" suggested Paula.

"Didn't they kick him out?" asked Jeff.

"Yeah...maybe Rycoulth or Gygath?" wondered Ness.

"Or the undead body of Voltaire?"

Ness and Paula looked at Jeff.

"One, I dunno who that is. Two, why would he be a zombie?" asked Ness, and when Jeff looked clueless, he frowned.

"Nevermind..." mumbled Jeff.

They could not find a suitable answer, and whenever they seemed to get closer the walls would THUMP and Jeff would rush upstairs to check his cameras. Finally they sat in Jeff's room debating it, so Jeff wasn't running up and down the stairs, only turning around.

Then:

CRASH!

A rock flew through the window, narrowly missing Paula, and landed on the floor. Jeff immediately turned to see the hide of a brown thing running away. He fired the Gaia Beam aimlessly into the woods before turning to Ness and Paula. Then a second rock flew through the window, and this time Jeff shot the creature. Ness and Paula rushed downstairs and outside, to the scene, but Jeff carefully picked up the two rocks and the Gaia Beam and carried them outside.

"What is this thing?" wondered Ness.

Paula gasped.

"What?"

"This looks like...like..."

She was on the verge of saying it when a stampede of the same creatures came out of the woods and charged, ugly heads rearing up.

"PK CRESCENT!" roared Ness, and the silver sword unleashed crackling energy. He impaled a nearby beast and then flung its lifeless body into the crowd, toppling others and killing them by forcing others to trample them. Jeff fired the Gaia Beam.

"PK Fire! PK Thunder!"

Paula's PSI quickly took effect; burning monsters were wailing pitifully and some were being thrown by the lightning. She repeated the lightning attack twice more as Ness slashed wildly, fighting like a madman. He unleashed a second PK Crescent before blasting some back with PK Burst. One got too close and was hit by a Brainshock that Ness had figured out how to use, and it screamed before slamming into the crowd and creating a domino effect. Just then, a rocket flew down from the second-story window they knew to be Jeff's, and Tony's too.

"Tony! Thanks!" called Paula; Ness was too busy fighting. Jeff kept firing the Gaia Beam from where he stood, and soon all that remained of the creatures was burning hair lying on the ground, some dead bodies, and the yelps of charred, injured beasts thundering away into the woods.

"Something's up, that's for sure," stated Ness later that night (they were going to temporarily stay at Snow Wood, sleeping on cots in Jeff's room, to observe the situation).

"Jeff, do you get infrared lighting on those cameras?" asked Paula politely.

"Yep. Here." He pressed a button (it was dark out) and there was an immediate effect. Now they could see.

"What are those?"

Paula indicated small lights flitting about in the forest, near the back of the school.

"I...I don't know," stuttered Jeff.

Ness came over and looked as well.

"That's...odd, to say the least," he stated.

They watched in silence.

Then the camera showed something very disturbing.

"SKREEEEEEE!"

It was a horrible scream, and it reverbrated around the room. Then the camera went dead.

A figure that looked like a ghostly bride wearing a white wedding gown had appeared. She had gashes all over her.

The four in the room (Tony was there too) were waiting in fear for the figure to fly through the broken window, or possibly appear on other cameras. Ness had both arms around Paula, and all four were breathing hard.

"What was that?" said Jeff in a tiny voice.

"I don't know," muttered Paula.

"Neither do I," replied Ness.

But he knew somehow that whatever it was, it had something to do with the Sound Stone...

He went to sleep in the cot, right next to Paula and Jeff (who didn't want to sleep on his bed because it was next to the window, which was broken).

But it was sleep in fear.

* * *

Lucas scowled. It was morning, and nothing interesting had happened yet. He strolled down to the library, but he had read most of the books in the sections he liked. Maybe he should try a new section.

Walking home with his arms full of new, unread books, he smiled at the thought of reading them.

Just then:

"Lucas!"

It was Duster.

"The pigs have gone missing!"

"Hunh!" cried Lucas, whipping around. "Let me put these inside first."

He sprinted into his house (which was nearby), placed the books haphazardly on the table, and ran outside with Duster. The two of them charged out into the fields, but there was no evidence of anything. Not even tracks were seen, or windblown stalks.

"I don't know what happened to them..." began Duster. Just then, they heard:

"Pork! Pork, for everyone!"

It was faint, but the two ran into the village to find people crowding around a butcher in white. They had never seen him before, but Duster spotted Kumatora at the northern exit of the village and joined her. Lucas, meanwhile, did not follow, but instead ran home. He came back soon, holding Scylla.

"You know," panted Lucas, "that could be Rycoulth in disguise, just like when Ness and Poo chased that businessman? The one who stole the tape of 'The Conqueror Fruits?'"

"Hmm...you DO have a point," noted Kumatora.

"There's only one way to find out," said Duster.

"How?" asked Lucas and Kumatora.

"Hold Scylla right next to him. Lucas. Go act like you're examining the pork."

Lucas obeyed, and as he neared the butcher Scylla did indeed glow brightly...the sword was indeed sensing something...

The butcher, however, did not notice this until Lucas was actually in front of him. He began to sweat vigorously. Scylla's glow, while warm and welcoming in the crisp autumn air, seemed to be making this guy sweat more than Bronson in the summertime...

People began to whisper about the guy sweating on the meats, and the crowd dispersed slowly.

"Wait! There is still pork to be had!" he exclaimed.

Nobody came back.

"Boy," he snarled. "You have driven away my business!" Then, when nobody was nearby:

"Prepare to die!"

Lucas leapt sideways, narrowly dodging the lunge that came from the man's meaty hands. It crackled with electricity.

Kumatora and Duster could only watch, stunned.

"You WILL die!" he hissed.

Lucas instinctively lunged with Scylla, but a blade of pure magical energy appeared in the man's hand and he parried. They dueled fiercely for several minutes, and when Lucas finally cornered the man he let loose a beam of dark energy, throwing Lucas into a wall and darkening the sky.

"Hrrrmph!" grunted the man as he drove the blade towards Lucas, who, all of a sudden, wasn't there anymore. Instead, he had quickly recovered and sidestepped, a useful dodging trick. He lunged and then circled the sword downwards, effectively attacking and parrying at the same time. Neither could touch the other.

The man performed a quick flick of his wrist, whinging the sword in the general direction of Lucas' attack. Lucas flipped backwards and then thrust the blade at the man, unleashing a PK Burst right before he touched the man and sending him flying backwards. They charged at one another and continued dueling as the sky lightened, and villagers kept watching. The "butcher" traced a figure-eight with the tip of the sword, but Lucas leapt back lightly and dodged the lunge, performing a half-turn of his wrist and pushing the sword away.

"Hey..." said Duster as the pair dueled. "Look. This piece of meat...it has a B branded onto it...I can just see it..."

"It's one of the missing pigs!" shouted Kumatora. "He stole the pigs and slaughtered them!"

Lucas heard this. He liked the pigs, and the fact that he was dueling their murderer infuriated him...Scylla glowed brightly...brighter...

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted from Scylla as it burst into golden fire and Lucas dueled ever fiercer. The man was sweating and whimpering, and his face showed signs of weakness. Then, just as Scylla began to spray fire from the tip of the blade, he turned to run, and found himself face-to-face with a second swordsman. The sky darkened again, and the strange second swordsman was thrown into shadow.

Lucas twirled Scylla (Ness was actually better at dueling and other sword-related things like twirling, because he used Hydra more; Lucas preferred peaceful solutions, but fought if he had to) and flung the blade at the man's legs, but for some reason it boomeranged back before it could hit the man. Lucas' eyes were fire, and he seemed intent on hurting this guy...

"Lucas! No!" shouted Kumatora as he sprang; she hit him with a PK Freeze and tossed him aside, into a building. Scylla's fire died, and it tossed itself onto the ground before suddenly holding itself up, like a sword you might see on an emblem, pointed towards the sky.

"Don't ever get like that again," stuttered Duster, his voice trembling. Suddenly there was a yelp; the man was running away and seemed to be growing taller and thinner, and his hair was growing longer, and purplish-grey, but that wasn't important.

"Well, he always did get very emotional," said a voice.

"That voice..." sputtered Lucas, who was defrosting. "C-could it be...?"

"Yep."

The stranger, who was unusually short, picked up Scylla and pointed it at the still-dark sky, and a beam of light shot up and cleared the clouds, throwing the stranger's face into sharp relief.

The three of them gasped.

"CLAUS!"

* * *

HOLY CREEPER (SSSSSsssssss...)! EVEN I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT! AND I WROTE IT!

Review, please! (Yays for feedback. I had four reviews for three chapters...was NOT expecting that.)

Lawl.

Try listening to Viva La Vida and writing this at the same time...it's pretty psychedelic, I tell ya.

It snowed a LOT, so I've been shovelling snow out of the yard and building myself an igloo. A rectangular igloo. It's hard work, and I wish I had a tarp or a big piece of plywood for the roof, but hey, I found an old rug, so that oughta work for a floor instead of rocks and dead fish. Oh, great, I thought of fish. Now I want to get to work on my keelboat...start building it...

Nothing better than a freshly built keelboat out on the rivers and creeks in the forests, during long summer days and nights, catching fish and shooting the weird shapes moving deep below the waves...wait, what?

I cleaned out the pond a while ago, turns out I left a fish flopping, and now it's preserved under the icy, compact floor of the igloo-to-be, just like that spider...

Yes, there were pigs in the Nowhere Islands.

Right...I want to write the next chapter now. So hah, and I shall write more.

Next Chapter: Callback


	5. Callback

Chapter 5: Callback

Read and...well, you can review if you want, I just want people to enjoy the story.

MY GOD. I was listening to Journey. It makes me pound out letters like a monkey at a typewriter.

Except monkeys pound out random letters.

I'm the monkey that writes Shakespeare. (You've heard that saying?) Or at least fanfictions.

NEWS!

I'm working on an original novel and a short horror story now; the novel is a big fat secret but the idea could be called lucridious. The horror story? I'm revealing nothing. Just lettin' ya know, in case ya wanna read it.

I'm gonna leave you guys hanging for a minute...

* * *

The next morning in Winters went something like this...

Ness swore loudly, earning a scowl from Tony, but he didn't exactly care just then.

"Jeff. I think I know what those brown beasts are."

Jeff frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah. Paula, remember the jungle hike?"

Paula nodded. "You found Hydra's hilt there, and we got attacked by those charging feral black Escaryuba...and...those brown beasts!"

Ness grinned, turning to Jeff. "See? Those things were in the jungle. They're relatively weak, and as long as they haven't spread outta Winters..."

"I'd call this a callback," remarked Jeff.

"Callback?" echoed Tony.

"Part of a comedic routine, where a comedian recalls a joke that he or she told previously that went over badly, and makes fun of it, or recalls a popular joke later for more laughs."

"This isn't funny at all. It's serious," scolded Paula.

"I wasn't talking about the exact definition," said Jeff lightly, although he smirked. "It's similar to a callback in that, in a strange twist of fate, these peculiar brown beasts have returned from a past adventure...when the Escaryuba invaded."

Ness scowled.

"Now we have to kill them off. Hopefully they haven't gotten out of Winters..."

"With our luck, they probably have," noted Paula.

Jeff leapt about a foot into the air.

"Oh, yeah! We need to get to the Sky Runner! We can check to see if they've spread out from Winters!"

"Isn't that back at your dad's lab?" asked Tony.

"Um...yes..." began Jeff, but Ness sprang up from his spot on the bed.

"Let's go, then!" he cried valiantly, and ran out of the building. Paula and Jeff exhanged amused glances, shrugged, and followed, with Tony tailing them.

It was a brief run down to the lake, where they found Ness waiting on Tessie's head. (And not Tessie the Tazmily inkeeper, mind you.)

"Wait..." said Paula warily, glancing around.

"MRROOOO!"

A lone beast charged, but Paula hit it with PSI Freeze and it topped. Jeff pulled out a few of its hairs and placed them carefully into a plastic baggie.

Tessie graciously took them to the shore near a maze, which was boarded up. They leapt over a cliff edge and plummeted down, and Ness protected them with a well-timed PSI Shield. Charging southwards, they detoured into a cave and ran through it, eventually finding themselves at Stonehenge, the strange stone arches that formed a ring around the entrance of the former Starman base of operations, terra firma. The ground was still torn apart from the PK Lightstorm that Ness, Lucas, and King had pulled off to obliterate a superpowered PSI-and-weapon-wielding Starman.

"Look. It's right there," pointed out Jeff.

The group headed for the silvery lab, unimpeded. They opened the door and Jeff led them to a room containing none other than the Sky Runner, a silvery saucer-type vehicle that could fly very fast and was incredibly useful.

"Maximum altitude...500 feet...minimum, 50 feet...landing gear is down, activate thrusters...close doors...unfold wings..." muttered Jeff.

"Wings?" echoed a confused Ness.

"The ring around the Sky Runner helps balance it. I just call it 'wings,'" explained Jeff quickly as they began to rise. "Landing gear...retract, thrusters, forty-five degrees on the xz axis, zero degrees on the y axis...frontal thrusters, rotate and aim thrust towards rear...rear thrusters, copy that..."

He muttered to himself as he fiddled with the controls. Ness casually flicked a switch and the Sky Runner took off at high speeds. Jeff flipped out until he realized what had happened, then yelled at Ness for about ten minutes before removing the plastic baggie containing the beast's hairs.

"What's that for?" asked Paula.

"Watch. The Sky Runner was upgraded. It can find this same material, and we can test areas with a wide transparent scanner beam. It uses some sort of harmless radio waves, like the sonar, but a bit different..." explained Jeff, before placing the hairs in a small, clear jar that retracted back into the ship's controls.

"MATERIAL SCAN INITIATED. SEARCH: INITIATED."

The monotone female voice sounded from a small speaker.

"Right...now, off we go to Onett!" cried Jeff in a manner most unlike himself, and the ship, as if it had heard him, shot southwest.

They heard a beep, a faint beep that signified the scanner beam turning on.

Two minutes later, they were soaring over Onett.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Significations that nothing was wrong. They headed further south to Twoson.

Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeep!

The loud, long beep and the ship coasting gently to a halt notified them of a finding.

"Oh, God," said Ness. "Quick! Kill it! Where's the laser? I know you arm everything to the teeth with weaponry..."

Jeff reached over to hit a button, but at that moment the Sky Runner lurched violently.

"W-what was that?" stuttered Tony.

BANG.

Something had hit the ship; it rocked back and then leaned forwards again. They noticed the ship was tilted to one side. Something must have been torn off.

"Quick! Fire the laser!" commanded Ness. He opened the door with a button, and then peered downwards in time to see the laser fire at nothing.

"Nothing..." murmured Jeff, checking the ship's built-in sonar.

Just then, Ness leapt back with a cry of alarm, slamming his fist into the button and closing the door (as well as almost shattering the button)

"BRACE YOURSELVES!"

Whatever he had seen, it was evident that it was going to make the ship crash; they threw themselves to the floor as the Sky Runner rolled powerfully before rocking back and creaking horribly. The ship jolted; something must have exploded. It began to sink, slowly at first, then it was plummeting downwards.

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

Four voices, crying out in unison, were the only things resounding throughout the dreary autumn skies of Twoson, slamming into the woods at high speed.

* * *

"What HAPPENED TO YOU!" screamed Lucas.

"It's...a long story," admitted Claus finally.

"Tell it anyway," snapped Kumatora.

"You'd make a wonderful old woman," jeered Duster. Kumatora turned red and did not retaliate.

"Alright. It all began something like this...

"I had been enraged by my mother's death at the...erm...not hands, but...teeth of the Mecha-Drago. I took my father's homemade knife and set out to find it. On the way, I met the Magypsies, who taught me PK Love Alpha, at the temporary cost of me being very creeped-out. Lucas can probably sympathize, seeing as he went through that too...but my resolve was strong, and I set out through the caves below Drago Plateau and the plateau itself. I fought my way through monsters galore, using my new PSI and my knife. Then I ran into the Mecha-Drago.

"It was incredibly strong, throwing me into a tree almost the second the fight began. I quickly recovered myself and used my new PSI, not realizing that I had to open it to an attack first, which my father undoubtedly did, as he lives to this day. I had no power against it, and it quickly killed me. Or so I thought.

"Quite a while later, two men in strange suits found me. Maybe they were supposed to. Maybe they weren't. Either way, they quickly shocked me into life, like some sort of undead. However, I'm assuming that I wasn't fully dead, and had some scrap of consciousness and life in me, because I didn't decompose, nor am I a zombie. Anyway, they took me to a fat bratty kid who dressed oddly. Confused, I opened my mouth to speak, but was quickly strapped down to a machine and I had an odd mask pressed to my face. Moments later, I was unconscious, and when I woke up there was a strange helmet on my head.

"I didn't remember who I was, or why I was alive. The only thing I wanted to do, the only thing I felt I HAD to do, was kill someone. I felt a burning desire to slay four particular 'organisms,' as you three and Boney were defined. In my eyes, you all were Public Enemy Number One, and I led the Pigmask Army to conquer. Unfortunately, at least for them, I was confronted with you, and I remembered who I really was. I killed myself with a piece of my shattered armor, and you pulled the last needle. My dying thoughts were these:

"'I won't be so lucky this time. I won't get a second chance like I did before. Even if I somehow do, it will probably be ruined like this one, with circumstances beyond my control. Oh, well. I'd rather be known a dead hero than a live fiend, even if I was a good fighter and a good leader of an army, an army of evil. At least my own brother, with his pure heart, could pull the last needle and save the world. At least I'll be remembered.

"But it was not so. I'm guessing that old armor had some sort of electromagnetic power, because electricity and magnetism-two basic principles of science-kept me alive. I lay there, bleeding but in no pain, until a strange Magypsy found me. She, for the Magypsy looked and acted like a woman, and I will call Magypsies 'she's for my own purposes, healed me using powerful PSI and intense therapy. Soon I was ready to go, and that I did.

"I journeyed far and wide, wondering what had become of the Nowhere Islands. For, yes, I retained my memories, and I searched for you. But for some reason I could never find you. It was in the last few days that I accepted you weren't off on another crazy adventure, and resolved myself to return to Tazmily.

"And that I did. The day I walked in, it seemed strangely empty. Even the pigs were missing. As I walked through the village gates, hoping for some activity, I found instead Lucas, dueling that madman over there, with a mysterious golden sword aglow with flame."

He finished his story at the present time, and Kumatora frowned. "Scylla's never done that before, I'll say that," she remarked finally.

"Scylla?"

"The sword," explained Lucas quickly, snatching up the blade. It was strangely hot despite being in the crisp air for qutte a time. Maybe it was just part of the sword's magic.

"Ah. But anyway...enough with the fancy, understandable talk. Let's get back to business. What's HAPPENED here!"

"He killed the pigs," said Lucas sadly. "And processed them."

"Oh, man. If only I had known...I would have blasted him from here to the-" snarled Claus angrily.

"Ha. Your names are anagrams," laughed Duster.

"That was...off-topic and random. And painfully obvious..." hissed Kumatora, through gritted teeth.

"Well, on a lighter note...um...well, we're going to need to introduce you to QUITE a few people," said Lucas.

Claus nodded and laughed. "I see."

They introduced him to Nathan, who was very interested in Claus' semi-mechanical arm, with its cannon. It was somehow removable, yet attached to his nerves like Nathan's (the only reason Nathan did not have one is that he had no left arm, period; it had been entirely amputated by whatever he had been fighting).

Then Nathan opened up a portal, at which Claus gaped, open-mouthed.

"Fascinating...magic? I never knew it existed..."

Nathan smiled, a flaming snake winding its way around his right arm before dissipating in a puff of smoke that swirled and turned into a twittering bird, before turning to water vapor and condensing into droplets that froze and turned into a swarm of miniature bats. These soared high before melting and falling to the ground as harmless raindrops.

"Not everybody can learn magic. If an ordinary person somehow gains temporary magical powers, they shouldn't fool around with them. The consequences could be..." Nathan snapped his fingers. "Dangerous."

A fireball shot out from his two fingers, pointed at a dead tree. It burst into flame and turned into ash.

"I see," said Claus, as Boney came flying out of his doghouse and crashed into a tree.

"That's the third time this week..." muttered Nathan. "Boney! Rapa Etus isn't a spell you use to...erm...exit doghouses!"

The dog growled softly. ("I figured that part out.")

"Then why do you keep doing it?"

("It's fun!")

"And painful," mumbled Nathan, thinking of a similar thing that had happened to him; he laughed to himself at the memory and glanced around.

"Boney!" shouted Claus.

("ZOMBIE!") barked Boney, and he glowed with fire-

"PSI Shield!" shouted Lucas.

The fireball, despite being a spell, ricocheted off of the shield and up into the air.

"Boney! He's not a zombie!" cried Lucas joyfully. "Not this time!"

"I wasn't a zombie before," muttered Claus.

* * *

Meanwhile, bruised and bloody, Ness crawled from the wreckage.

"Ergh...PSI Heal...PSI Lifeup..."

He healed himself before turning to the ship.

"PK BLAST!"

BOOM!

The explosion rent the tough metal of the ship. Ness slowly pushed it apart with his hands before dragging Paula out. Next, he grabbed Jeff and tugged him from under a caved-in part of the ceiling. Finally, he extracted Tony from the rubble.

"PSI Heal...PSI Lifeup..."

He went around healing everyone before dusting himself off.

"What DID that?" wondered Paula.

"Something that didn't want us to complete our search," growled Jeff.

Ness surveyed the area silently. Just then, he noticed a crimson glint in the ferns.

"Hey...look at this!" he called. The others came and glanced around as Ness pulled the object from the ferns.

"It looks like a plexiglass 'S,'" remarked Paula.

"That's exactly what it is," stated Tony.

"What would this be doing out here?" mused Jeff.

"Maybe whoever attacked us dropped it when they fled," suggested Ness, pointing to the trampled foliage nearby.

"Heyy...the tracks end over there!" pointed out Paula.

Tony rushed over to check.

"It looks like they do...hmm...scorch marks?"

"SCORCH MARKS!" roared Ness. He sprinted to where Tony stood and closely examined the flattened stalks. "They certainly are black..."

"This is getting weirder by the second," murmured Jeff. "Are you sure about that?"

"One-hundred-and-three percent," verified Ness, nodding his head. "It's like there was a small explosion."

"Ness."

It was Paula.

"Remember when you said teleportation caused some heat?" she asked.

"Yeah...what about it?" asked Ness.

"If there are footsteps-trampled plants, rather...and then scorch marks, surrounded by flattened plants...then someone probably ran a few feet and teleported! So it MUST be someone PSI-using or magical..."

"Good point," remarked Tony.

"That explains how they hit our ship that was way up in the air," snarled Jeff. "How many times have I repaired this thing now?"

"Calm down," said Paula. "We'll help you."

"Aside from the broken Sky Runner, we need to get out of here. If we detected those beasts here...they could probably still be around. Not everything is startled by a UFO-like object slamming down in front of them, on fire." As he said this, he swung Hydra backwards without looking, and hit the rushing monster behind him (it spurted blood and slumped over). "We should probably head out of the woods. WE CAN COME BACK FOR THE SKY RUNNER LATER," he added, as he saw Jeff showing signs of reluctance.

They trudged out of the woods, where people eyed them suspiciously. The four of them were, after all, covered in soot, blood, and ash, and their clothes were burnt and smouldering (still).

Oh. And Ness was holding a glowing sword. That didn't really help their appearance.

As they walked, they detoured wordlessly into Burglin Park. There, people sold their wares for cheap prices.

"Hey...what's that guy doing?" wondered Tony.

A beefy-looking butcher was holding a chicken and a knife.

"Ergh. I HATE people like that," snarled Paula.

"Yo! Ix-nay on the illin'-kay!" called Ness. This confused the butcher long enough to make him look up, and, in a flash, Ness was there, lunging out and knocking the knife from his hand. In return, the butcher drew a sword that looked a lot like a zanbato. Ness wasn't concerned. In fact, he was mad; they had already been almost killed by a teleporting coward, and now this guy was killing animals in public. He wasn't going to think about the fact that this guy had a sword when he had one too.

Twirling the blade rapidly, he performed something like a side slash. The man held the sword in front of him and deflected it, then took a huge lunge at Ness. Ness ducked and tossed himself to the side.

"Look at him. He's like some sort of ragdoll!" taunted the man. A crowd had gathered.

"I'm...not...a...RAGDOLL!"

Hydra erupted into silver flame on the last word, and suddenly it was a blur; the man could hardly fight for the life of him, and soon his sword was actually melting.

"Braechas Luz!" shouted Ness, although they knew that wasn't any sort of PSI. Was that...a spell?

Yep.

A beam of bright light fired from the tip of the sword, creating an effect on that man that was similar to wax on a candle. He seemed to be melting away...

"ARGH!"

This time, it was a woman's anguished scream, and Ness, Paula, and Jeff gasped in surprise.

"Does she look familiar?" wondered Paula mockingly.

"Hmm, I don't know, Paula, does she remind you of anyone we met on Tanetane before?" asked Jeff, playing along.

"I swear...I thought you were dead..." snarled Ness.

The woman standing in front of them...was...

"Who is that?" whispered Tony.

"That's Maria, and she should have been dead a long time ago," replied Ness through gritted teeth, and loudly enough for everyone to hear.

* * *

I hate to do the whole new-character thing twice in a row, but the plot called for it.

THOSE CRAZY NIGHTS

I DO REMEMBER

FROM MY YOUTH

I DO RECALL

THOSE WERE THE BEST TIMES

MOST OF ALL

Awesome guitar solos? Agreed.

Next Chapter: Way Back When


	6. Way Back When

Chapter 6: Way Back When

The product of weeks of swearing at the monitor. Hope you enjoy it.

Wow. I never knew anyone who could hurt themselves as much as I do. I took one step and bent three of my toes backwards, effectively almost breaking them. I

crushed my fingers in a door and under a two-hundred-pound mirror I was trying to carry (today). I fell several feet from a doorway once, landed on my heels, and stunned myself (I couldn't walk for three hours!). I've flipped over a scooter moving at 40 miles an hour down a steep hill. I've jumped off of a twenty-foot slide, dangled by my fingers from the edge of the same slide (I was younger then!), and faceplanted into packed mulch (wood + nose = splinters in face). Speaking of splinters, I've even accidentally embedded multiple splinters in my own palms, which resulted in painful removal. I've stabbed myself in the forehead (again by accident), kicked myself in the head, kicked myself in the leg, fallen down because of that, smashed my head into a hard tile floor (I was in something like sixth grade, I cried a lot. It hurt), flown on a shopping cart, ran into my friend's fist, broke multiple toes on doors, and tripped myself. I've cut off part of my own thumb (thankfully, it healed, but three towels were stained with my blood), gouged out part of my finger with a broken piece of a pen (more blood! Yay!), and hit myself in the head with the butt of a gun. I've even hit my own leg with a machete, but luckily, nothing happened. When I was six I hit myself with my own sword (it was very heavy to me at the time).

My pain = a comedy of errors.

Does that mean my pain is Shakespeare's type of humor?

Ponder that while you carefully study this border. When finished studying the border, you may READ AND REVIEW!

* * *

Ness glared.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Maria scowled.

"What do you think? I was trying to kill you. No point in hiding it," she snarled.

"'Course not."

A familiar voice sounded behind Ness, Paula, and Jeff, and they turned to look. Tony glanced around, confused.

Nathan smiled.

"Didn't I say I'd visit you?" he reminded them.

"You're just in time. We were about to pulverize this wretch," growled Ness.

"No need to pulverize her. I have a better, less bloody solution," said Nathan lightly.

He pushed at the air, and a forcefield erected itself. Then he shouted "Flagrantís!" and cords of flame wrapped themselves around Maria. Next, he conjured up a series of orange runes. These swirled around Maria before forming an orange portal that caused the flame cords to dissipate and Maria to fly into it. There was a quick flash, and the portal and forcefield vanished.

("Amnesia flash. Don't want anyone to know I did that, technically I'm not supposed to use magic in public,") explained Nathan. This particular public dispersed, like nothing at all had occurred.

"Hmm...what's the deal with Maria anyway?" wondered Ness. Nathan silently formed a portal and beckoned to them.

"I'd have to show you," he said.

The portal journey was quick. They found themselves sitting in the branches of a pine tree near a wooden house (it resembled Alec's, but nobody really knew that).

"Podunk, Eagleland, circa 1870," announced Nathan.

"Podunk?" echoed Paula.

"Yep. It's still here, you know...in western Eagleland. Onett and the others are in eastern Eagleland."

"Why don't I ever hear about it?" asked Ness.

"I wouldn't know. It might have been destroyed, or maybe nothing significant really happens. The very name of the town means something ordinary," said Nathan thoughtfully.

They watched a man exiting the house, waving a goodbye to his wife (who was clearly pregnant).

"Maria was pregnant with their first child," narrated Nathan. Ness noted the alliteration. "UFOs are everywhere in the papers. Now, we fast-forward a few days to this scene..."

A fast portal, then they were in the same tree. A huge Starman ship was hovering low over the house. Ness, who still had Hydra on him, prepared for a PSI Crescent, but Nathan stopped him.

"Ever heard of the little thing where altering the past drastically alters the future?" Nathan reminded him. "If you did this, humanity wouldn't know about PSI, and you wouldn't have your powers, or Hydra here, because you would have been enslaved by Giygas when he came to conquer the world because you didn't have your PSI, and then, since you would be a mindless slave, you wouldn't have gone off to fight the Escaryuba (they wouldn't even have come, for that matter), or met Lucas or Kumatora or Duster or Boney or me, and none of this would be happening, and everything would collapse into a big fat mess full of slavery and death and miserable-ness, then the Order would be the ones saving the world, and you guys would just be ordinary people."

Ness' eyes went wide at the thought of all this, and decided to, in a sense, let sleeping dogs lie.

The ship fired a beam of bright green, and abducted two people.

"Maria and George," whispered Nathan. Then, louder: "Three months later, this happened."

They fast-forwarded again, and the same ship was hovering over the house.

"Maria never did see her baby or husband after this. They beamed down George and the newborn, and George spent the time that he had lamenting over the loss of his beloved wife. Meanwhile, on board the Quark Netruno, which was the ship Giygas would later operate, Maria had found a semi-adequate replacement for her baby. She raised Giygas like he was her own child, and he loved Maria so much that, when she died, he actually brought her back to life with electricity and used many powerful machines to grant her strong PSI. But as she aged, she was corrupted by the evil aboard the ship, and learned the ways of darkness. So now we're fighting an evil undead menace with dark magic who's over a century old," explained Nathan.

A man's yelling could be heard from within the house. He sounded downright miserable, and Ness knew that was how he would feel if he lost his friends and family.

"Lucas! Come on! We have to see Lighter and Fuel today!" called Flint.

"Meh."

"Lucas. Come on."

"What's this all about, anyway? What's with the sudden wanting to see those two?" asked Lucas, coming down the stairs.

"You remember what you told me about them at Club Titiboo?"

"Yeah."

"We're going to go check on them, see if they're alright. Claus!"

Claus followed Lucas.

"Lucas..." he began. "What did you do after you pulled the final Needle? There's been word everywhere about this fantastic adventure, but...I don't know what happened!"

"You'll have to ask Ness," said Lucas resolutely.

"Ness?"

"Our...erm...great-grandfather. From the past," added Lucas.

"What!"

"Ergh. When Nathan gets back, I'll introduce you..."

The three of them left the house and headed for the Sunshine Forest, and Lighter's cabin, which he had built himself.

"What happened to Lighter?" asked Claus urgently.

"Well...you see...we were in Club Titiboo. Me, Kumatora, Duster, Boney, Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, King, and Nathan," explained Lucas. "We were in the attic, enjoying a fine meal with the Cockeysville mice, when suddenly this laser came out of nowhere and almost killed us. Lighter had become the new leader of the Pigmasks, you see...and Fuel was with him. Nathan used this Aquaritaiye Naven thing, and the whole attic flooded out. Everyone but Ness, Nathan and I escaped into Duster's old room (you know, when he got amnesia and took the name Lucky, the bass player), and then all these prehistoric monsters came outta NOWHERE, and something happened...I don't remember...but...we had to escape for something."

Claus nodded, not entirely sure of what his brother had just said. They passed Isaac's cabin, and, as was usual when he passed by this area, Flint stopped to say hello to Isaac. Flint knocked on the door.

"Hello?" he called. No reply.

"Isaac! You in there?" yelled Claus.

No reply.

Just then, they heard a dog's happy barking.

"That was great, Boney! You're really learning fast!" came Nathan's voice.

"Oh, hello, Nathan," greeted Flint.

"What were you learning, Boney?" Lucas asked his dog.

("Basic conjuring!") yipped the excited dog. ("Turns out I can conjure myself a bone anytime I want to! How about that, huh?")

"But conjuring something whenever you want it takes the surprise out of being given a sudden treat," Lucas reminded Boney. "Remember how happy you always feel when someone tosses you a bone?"

Boney frowned as best he could. ("Oh. Yeah. That.")

"Isaac isn't home?" asked Nathan.

"Don't think so," said Flint. "But he never locks his door...not like there are any thieves besides Wess, and he's too old to steal. I mean, there's Duster, but he's a good guy..."

Nathan wordlessly punched a hole through the door with his mechanical arm and opened the door from that side.

Claus shouted in alarm. Lucas yelped, and Boney whimpered. Flint gasped, and Nathan's eyes went wide.

Blood was everywhere. Something that looked like blue flesh was also everywhere, and a knife with greenish blood lay haphazardly on the edge of a table, pointing at the door. The place was wrecked.

"Somebody's been in here..." muttered Flint.

"Not somebody. SomeTHING." Nathan motioned to the blue flesh, then turned to Lucas and Boney. "If we were to go to the cemetery tonight, we would find the exact same blue flesh on the creaky bones of a reanimated corpse."

* * *

Ness frowned. He had just gotten home from their little excursion into the past, and was thinking hard about the mysterious figure who had dropped the ruby letter S nearby before teleporting away. Nathan had returned to the Nowhere Islands immediately after they got back to Eagleland, and he wondered what was happening in the Nowhere Islands now. Maybe everything was normal.

He rose from the chair at the kitchen table. The November winds were howling outside.

"This is odd..." he muttered. "I have this strange desire to visit Podunk..."

He put on his jacket and warped to Twoson.

"Hey, Paula!" he shouted. He was in front of the Polestar Preschool.

She glanced out of a window. "What?"

"D'you wanna come to Podunk?"

"Sure. Just a sec."

That sec quickly passed and soon she stood next to him. "What do you want to go to Podunk for?"

"I just have this feeling..." he said.

Just then, the world faded.

"Not again..." he moaned.

He was standing with Paula, Jeff, and Poo in something that looked like a jungle.

"Which way do you think it is?" asked Poo, surveying the area.

"Thataway," said Ness, pointing east. They headed that way and found themselves facing an ivy-covered shack...

The vision faded away, and he found himself standing up in the middle of the road. Paula looked worried.

"What did you see?" she asked him.

"Us...me, you...Jeff...Poo...we were in something that looked like a jungle...we headed east and found some kind of ruined old shack..." recalled Ness. "It was weird..."

Paula frowned. "Let's go see Jeff and Poo..."

* * *

Nathan glanced around. "Obvious signs of a struggle..."

Boney stepped into the cabin with a small click.

"That was odd..." noted Lucas. Suddenly, a small weight fell onto the edge of the knife that was poking out from the tabletop. It flipped up into the air and flew straight at them, but Lucas used PSI Shield, effectively neutralizing the threat.

"Someone doesn't want us here..." said Nathan. Just then, a ruby S dangling on a string lowered itself from the ceiling. Nathan seemed to realize something and held up his hand. Slowly, it began to glow with white fire, and then he lunged forwards and smashed his fist into the S. The S shattered with a horrible scream, in a glow of white flame, and Nathan's hand returned to normal.

"What did you do?" wondered Claus.

("What kind of spell is that?") asked Boney.

"One, I shattered it. This thing is evil...and two, that wasn't a spell. Do you remember back at Poison Wood, when I told you I had my own degree of powers but they weren't as strong as they normally are? Since Rycoulth and Gygath aren't even in this dimension, my own powers are recovering fairly steadily, and that was an example." He held up his hand again, and it burst into white fire again before extinguishing itself. "It has to do with Navenstrae."

* * *

Ness, Jeff, Paula, and Poo fought their way through the dense forest. Ness could see a field ahead.

"That's Twoson Valley!" exclaimed Paula.

"Is it now?" growled Ness, blasting apart the edge of the forest with PSI Blast.

"Why have I never seen it on a Twoson map?" asked Jeff.

"It's because it's not legally a part of Twoson. It's just called that," explained Paula.

They crossed the valley and found themselves facing a mountain with a tunnel in it. Railroad tracks were visible.

"Hey, wait!" cried Jeff. He brushed aside the grass near the tunnel and uncovered more tracks.

"Paula, was there ever a train station in Twoson?" asked Ness.

"Yep...when I was three. I don't remember ever seeing it again, though...I only boarded the train once, and that was to see my dad while he was on a business trip in some town," said Paula.

"Podunk," stated Poo. "It was likely Podunk."

"Idea!" exclaimed Ness.

They had fought their way back to Twoson and were standing outside of the bus stop while Ness blasted away the ground across the street.

Finally...

"AHA!" he shouted. "Come look at this!"

The trio crossed the road and peered down the hole. Stairs?

"How did you know it was here?" asked Jeff.

"Bus stop, train station! Both central points of transportation, both near each other!" he explained excitedly. They removed more dirt, eventually widening the path enough to enter the old station.

Torches lined the walls. The old train tracks were visible in the light, and an electric light flickered feebly overhead.

"Why is there still power here?" wondered Paula. "I thought it shut down when I was four."

"Maybe someone else is using it," suggested Ness darkly.

Just then, a light shone on the wall to their left-from the tracks themselves.

"Get ready!" commanded Ness, taking out Hydra. "It might be hostile!"

A clean, shiny train came to a halt a few feet from the wall. It looked oddly familiar...

"Is that the Vermillion Bullet?" said Paula.

"I would say so," replied Poo. The doors slid open and several people walked out. Two of these were Lynn and Jack.

"Oh! Hey! It's you four!" exclaimed Jack. "Where's the dog?"

"My house," answered Ness. "What IS this place?"

"Well, it was once the Twoson train station, as you probably already know," said Lynn, "but now?" She grinned. "Just board the train. You'll find out. We just recently installed the train system, seeing as we just recently obtained the Bullet."

Ness nodded wordlessly. He stepped up to the train, and the conductor glanced down at him.

"All aboard!" he cried. "Next stop-Order of the Dragon base, Eagleland district!"

Nathan scowled. The ruby S was nagging at the back of his mind, and it seemed familiar to him. Just then, he felt something tug at his cape.

"Eh?"

It was Boney.

"What is it?" he asked.

("How did you get Navenstrae? How did you wind up like you are?") inquired the brown dog.

Nathan grinned. He supposed he might as well...

"Alright. It all began something like this..."

* * *

Reviewzorz. That's new.

So? How'dja like it? How'dja like the fact that I just combined three words in an irrational conjunction?

Now we shall find out how Nathan became like he is...and what of the Chosen Four? What have they stumbled upon? Yes, they're in the Order (if you read the end of Rise of the Escaryuba, you would read about Nathan making them official members of the Order).

Not much to say here...

Duster: Just say the next chapter.

Me: Wasn't Jeff supposed to say that?

Duster: I bribed him out of it.

Me: He bribes you, you bribe him. What is it with you people bribing one another?

Duster: It's just a thing we do.

Me: *sigh* Right. Next chapter: Out of Place


	7. Out of Place

Chapter 7: Out of Place

Like RotE, Chapter 7 is gonna be a long one, so buckle down and prepare for a lengthy ride.

Jesus, I hate LucasxKumatora...(Read endnotes for more info...)

Been busy with my latest composition for an acoustic guitar. Sounds pretty good so far!

NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY

IT'S SUCH A SHAME FOR US TO PART

NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY

NOONE EVER SAID IT WOULD BE THIS HARD

(piano)

OH TAKE ME BACK TO THE START

RANDOM CAPS LOCK

Enough of that!

I'mma get writing now, I was listening to The Scientist (great song by the way, go look it up).

The chapter begins in Nathan's point of view, without quotes around everything, just a heads-up.

* * *

It all began one day when I was twelve. I was in school, scribbling down some notes in Algebra, when all of a sudden there was this loud bang. Everyone ran to the window to look, of course, and there was a man standing there with a gun. He had just shot a woman. When he noticed us standing there, he turned and fired. He hit my shoulder, and I fainted.

Whether it was from loss of blood or just sheer trauma, I don't really know.

While I was unconscious, I had a bizarre dream...

A strange orb came to me. It had some sort of mind of its own, and it glowed brightly, in a shade of green. It was hypnotic, and it began to speak.

"Do you wish to let evil like this roam the world still?" it asked.

"No, of course not. But what can I do? I'm twelve years old," I replied.

"You can do more than you think."

It floated closer, and all of a sudden, bam. It floated right through me, and I felt kind of tingly.

"Your father was a dragon, Nathan. Many people are oblivious to the true nature of things. You, being an ordinary child, in most respects (and for now), are oblivious to magic and dimensional travel and your true potential."

I was entranced.

"You must find the gateway to the spirit realm. It is in your own mind, but once you have opened it, you can freely traverse physically between these realms."

And I woke up.

I spent many hours meditating and focusing on this strange realm. And when I finally managed to enter it, I was attacked by a demonic spirit hell-bent on destruction, but saved by a strange white light blasting from the sky. Nobody was around.

"Thank you, whoever you are," I said, quietly, and, driven by some unknown thought or force, I walked on. My feet carried me to a mountain range, where I found a strange old book. It contained a list of things, and I later discovered it was a spellbook. An ancient one, with elder magic and...more modern magic, I'd say, alike. This was my first exposure to magic and my beginnings to being who I am now, besides Navenstrae.

The powers contained within the pages of this book led me through perilous caves, and I plunged deep into the ground. I had no idea why I was doing this. For some odd reason (maybe it was adrenaline?) I found myself quickly able to use the spells scrawled down in a very fancy script. These guided me, and soon I encountered a door.

Nothing was within my power to open this door. I tried even the elder of the elder of magic spells, down to the first ever written, and yet it was to no avail. Finally, I remembered the strange green orb. The sheer thought brought words to my head...

"Navenstrae Faetaill..." I whispered to the door. And suddenly, it flew open. Thankfully, it flew open inwardly. And there, on a stone table mounted atop a stone pillar, was a box. It looked somewhat like a coffin, yes. I opened it, and there was Navenstrae.

The moment I touched it, there was a huge lightningbolt of energy that crackled around the room, and I gasped as suddenly wings sprouted from my back (I had a weaver and spellcaster create this amazing cape you see here, as to cover the wings). My normally brown, wavy hair was now a dark green mess with a bright mohawk in the center. At that time, my rocket shoes and pants (for even my pants have weird powers of their own) weren't present, nor was my mechanical arm (I actually got my arm off from a rogue overlord of darkness fleeing a planet, and he was badly wounded (holding a dark sword, too), and he chopped my arm off in one swift clean motion). I was just standing there in awe of what had just happened.

And from that day forth, I dedicated myself to magic and trans-dimensional travel and all that, and here I am.

Nathan sighed.

("Weird,") admitted Boney finally.

"Strange, yes," said Nathan. "Bad, no."

* * *

The Chosen Four rode the Vermillion Bullet through tunnels and fields, through mountains and forests. But it was in a jungle-like environment they stopped, directly west of Twoson.

"Well, this seems oddly familiar," stated Ness, glancing around. He directed them further west, heading for what he was sure was the stone shack. And it was that he found.

"Wait a moment," said Paula. "This isn't a shack. PK Fire!" The flames burned away the ivy and revealed words engraved in the upper wall (there was no door, just an opening).

WELCOME TO PODUNK.

"Oh, God..." muttered Ness.

"It appears that we've found Podunk," remarked Poo.

"Coordinates..." mumbled Jeff, searching himself for another of his various devices.

They walked through the archway, entering a ruined-looking town.

Or at least it looked like that.

Suddenly, the small tattoos on the backs of their hands featuring the Order symbol began to glow.

"Huh!"

It was Jeff.

Ness gazed at his hand silently. Suddenly there was a noise like breaking glass, and the buildings transformed. Suddenly, it was a bustling town, with restored buildings and no trees overhead. It looked like it had back when Nathan had taken them here.

"Have we gone back in time?" wondered Paula.

"No, you've broken the spell," grinned a girl next to them. "Welcome to the Order's refugee town. Ordinary folks who are in danger from not-so-ordinary things are brought here for protection. Only Order members or people living here can see what the town truly is or contact the people. To enemies, it appears to be an old ruin."

Ness nodded. "Nice job you guys have done here. Can you direct me to headquarters?"

"It's over there."

She pointed towards a hill. The four of them went there and stood for a minute.

"It's just a hill," said Ness. Just then, Poo closed his eyes.

"This isn't a time to be meditating..." began Paula, but Poo did not appear to hear her.

Then he sprung up and punched the hill in a slightly protruding spot.

"Muu training can be useful," he reminded the other three.

A large, door-shaped chunk of hill slid outwards and to the side.

A bustling base-like area was contained within. "PRESENT ORDER IDENTIFICATION." A metallic voice rang out from the entranceway.

Ness held up his hand, showing the Order tattoo. He was allowed in, and the rest followed suit.

"Ness! Paula! Jeff! Poo!"

They were hailed by a large bird.

"Hello, Flynn," greeted Ness amiably.

"How'd your little escapade in the Nowhere Islands go?" asked Flynn.

"Scary," admitted Paula. "Bones, ghosts, demonic energy that possessed the Vermillion Bullet...ergh."

"The Vermillion Bullet? You mean the very same train that's taking people to and from the town?" Flynn cocked his head.

"Yes, Nathan performed some sort of exorcistic spell on the train, the same spell he used on me after we fought the Rays," said Jeff. "Ekspulca, I think it was."

As he spoke the word "Ekspulca" there was a slight disturbance in the air, and a bright blue ribbon flickered into view for a quarter of a second.

"Erm...people like Jeff have lots of brainpower...I guess they can easily focus without really thinking about it..." stammered Flynn; the ribbon had almost touched him.

"Wait...I could learn magic?" asked Jeff.

"It's not advisable," warned Flynn. "You might die."

"How would that work?" wondered Paula.

"Too much mindpower?" suggested Ness.

"Precisely," stated Flynn. "He might collapse under the power of his own mind."

"That's new," laughed a voice from nearby.

"Oh. Hey, Chris," said Flynn. "Hi, Natalie."

Natalie? thought Ness. Wasn't that Nathan's sister?

"Hi, Flynn," answered a girl; she sounded a little younger than Paula.

Ness turned around.

Natalie, Nathan's younger sister (she was about 13, near Lucas' age), was standing behind them. She was a bit shorter than Paula.

They had met only twice, once outside of Lucas' house after Jeff had been abducted by a mysterious green wyvern that they later found out was Natalie's wyvern Lacey (who was actually protecting them from Zombie-Jeff), and once in the caverns under the Nowhere Islands in the middle of a siege by none other than the Escaryuba.

"Hey, wait...this base is only open to Order members..." began Paula.

Natalie grinned and showed Paula a dragon tattoo on the back of her hand.

"Though you said you didn't feel like having all these Order responsibilities," grinned Ness.

"Well, it's not much fun knowing magic and not being able to give it a practical use. I don't know much, but I think it runs in our genes. Look at Nathan!" She frowned after saying this, thinking. Nathan, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found, thus, they were unable to look at him, but they could imagine him; the flaming snake (well, it moved like a snake) was twisted around his arm in each of their minds. Ness was overwhelmed with the desire to possess a flaming pet snake, although he had no idea how he would handle it.

* * *

Meanwhile, around 100 years in the future, Boney barked.

It wasn't a particularly significant bark. It sounded just like a regular bark.

Except for one thing.

A huge soundwave rocketed from his outstretched paw at the command, its incredible amplitudes shattering glass and smashing rocks to pieces. Nathan waved his hand, repairing any damage.

"Excellent job, Boney!" complimented Nathan. "...Boney?"

A poodle was walking along in the distance. Boney gazed at it.

"Boney!"

The dog snapped back to consciousness. Nathan smiled.

"Really?" He shook his head playfully. "Ah, anyway, that was an excellent demonstration of Sonara Retas..."

BLAM!

Something whizzed by Boney's ear.

("Nathan?")

He seemed unaware of his surroundings.

("Oh, no...it can't be...")

Nathan's eyes faded to yellow. Boney noticed a fine grazing along his arm, going horizontally. He sighed with relief, then gasped as he spotted Nathan's eyes.

A flashback.

Duster, eyes yellow, garbling and foaming at the mouth...dog treat wedged firmly between his jaws, hands frozen together behind his back...

("Ergh...not...not again!") moaned the brown dog. ("HELP! CAN ANY ORDER MEMBER HEAR ME!")

At this exclamation, Jack sprinted out of the bushes. (He and Lynn had headed back to the Nowhere Islands after meeting Ness and co. by the train.)

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Nathan?"

("It's the neurotoxin. You heard about Poison Wood?") inquired Boney.

Jack gaped.

"Jesus! Erm, Lynn?"

She followed Jack's path, and they explained the situation.

"We've got to get him to headquarters. Come on, it's this way."

* * *

Ness swore.

"I still don't get it, though. Why is the ruby 'S' so important?"

They were discussing something they hadn't exactly had time to, which was the mysterious destruction of the Sky Runner.

"It could very clearly be anything..." began Paula, but just then there was a bright flash from behind them. They were sitting in the center of the Order base, where people passed often. (It was very busy there.)

"What was that?" wondered Jeff.

Something roared and there was a crash.

"ACK!"

A very heavy and sharp blade smashed through a wall and nearly sheared off Poo's head, had he not swiftly ducked. It was on a chain and flew backwards, back into the room it had come from.

"PK Love!"

"Lucas!" cried Ness. What was Lucas doing here?

He sprang from his seat and, unsheathing Hydra, sprinted straight into the middle of the chaos. He was met with a three-headed hellbeast, which he impaled violently on the end of Hydra before unleashing a PK Burst. The bloody corpse slammed into a familiar figure who everyone seemed to be targeting.

A brown dog rushed up to Ness.

("Nice to see ya, Ness,") greeted Boney in a very businesslike manner. ("We've got a bit of a situation, as you can see...")

Another hellbeast burst into being, and a golden blade sliced its head off.

"Heya, Lucas," grinned Ness. "What's the deal here?"

"I'll explain later! PK Crescent!" replied Lucas. Ness copied him as Paula, Jeff, and Poo ran into the room.

"Is that Nathan?" wondered Paula.

"Not sure! Just fight off the hellbeasts!" returned Ness, kicking one in the face and causing it to keel over, unconscious. He quickly killed it as another sprung for his throat; Paula knocked it back, dead, with a well-placed PSI Freeze.

Jeff unleashed a barrage of bottle rockets, which circled the room like flaming doves before dive-bombing someone in the very middle of the room. Immediately, the person slumped over, and there was a loud CLANG! and a "PK Fire" before everything was quiet.

"What the hell's going on here?" roared Chris, who had just gotten there. Natalie stood uncertainly behind him, and Flynn was perched haphazardly on his shoulder, eyes aglow with the flames of battle. This glow faded when he realized that the fighting was over.

"Nathan was hit by a sniper or something, grazed by a bullet," began Lucas. "The bullet had the unknown neurotoxin from the Escaryuba you all likely know about on it, and he went a bit spastic on us. We froze his hands together and wedged a dog treat in his mouth, but when we went through the portal his hands defrosted and the dog treat just disintegrated and he started summoning hellbeasts..."

"It was originally just me, Jack, and Boney containing him, but the other three noticed what was happening and came along to help." Lynn indicated Lucas, Kumatora, and Duster.

"Where are we, anyway?" asked Duster.

"Order of the Dragon, Eagleland base. Top-notch security and facilities of the highest quality," said Chris. In Nathan's mental absence, he certainly had the qualities of a leader.

"AGFADFKMADVASDIOPCVMKASP!" yelled Nathan suddenly.

"You sure he ain't possessed?" asked Flynn.

"No, he isn't. We just need to use every type of healing spell there is," replied Kumatora calmly, remembering the whole Poisonwood incident.

There was a general murmur from every magic-user in the room. Iridescent gas-like energy wafted gently through the room. Soon, Nathan awoke and his eyes faded back into some sort of red colour.

"Uhh...why are his eyes red?" wondered Duster, shifting to his good leg.

"Well, he's half-dragon, isn't he?" answered Natalie matter-of-factly, walking over to him and drawing out his wings.

"Wuzzat?" mumbled Nathan sleepily, waving his hand aimlessly over himself. Or maybe it wasn't so aimless...

He instantly sprang onto his feet and glanced around, wings spread in an offensive stance.

"Oh. Wait. Why am I here? The last thing I remember was being in the Nowhere Islands..." he mused, folding his wings.

"You were poisoned with that neurotoxin," explained Lucas.

* * *

Several hours later, they were sitting in Nathan's personal room. There were a million gadgets of every sort: weird net-launchers, something resembling Jack's weapon of choice, a headset that had a pulsating blue gem in the center of the forehead piece, a pistol that was jerry-rigged to fire flaming bullets, and so many other things I couldn't even begin to describe.

It looked a lot like the inside of a log cabin, except for the gadgets.

A roaring fireplace provided the only light in the room, and Nathan leaned back casually in a rocking chair.

"You know, things don't seem to be as bad as before in the Nowhere Islands," remarked Duster thoughtfully.

It was nighttime, and they were in a sleepy daze.

"You're right, Duster. They really aren't," stated Kumatora.

"It's awful here," growled Ness, waving an empty mug that used to be full of something, but he had forgotten it. It was delicious, however. "We found a ruby-coloured S on the ground, and it was...what's the word...translucent. Ugh. Looks like whoever caused the Sky Runner to crash was wearing that and dropped it...or something..."

Paula, who was sitting right next to him on a long sofa, nodded.

"A lot of footprints and scorched-looking plants," she explained.

Suddenly, the air turned icy cold.

"AIIEEEEE!"

SMASH!

"That came from downstairs!" yelled Duster, springing to his feet and leaping through the door. Ness, Poo, and Kumatora followed, and Nathan calmly strode out after them. They practically flew down the stairs onto a balcony, then down another set of stairs to the floor below, straight into a crowd.

"My God!" Ness' voice rang out through the stunned crowd.

A boy was lying on the ground. As the crowd parted to make way for Nathan, the boy rose into the air and was thrown headfirst into a wall by something invisble.

"REVEAL YOURSELF!" commanded Nathan forcefully, Navenstrae suddenly materializing in his hand with a crackle. Whatever the thing was, Nathan could apparently see it, or maybe he could just tell where it was, because he fired a beam of bright green energy into it. Temporarily, it was illuminated.

A monstrous being with four arms and six legs was the culprit.

The boy dissipated into thin air. Lucas immediately realized who he was and breathed furiously on the window as Nathan fired a spell that fully revealed the horrible monster. It looked somewhat like a Nuckelavee. Immediately, the less stunned Order members fired things at it, or attacked with some sort of weapon. Nathan thrust Navenstrae at it, but it shoved the staff backwards. Nathan's hands began to glow with white flame...

"You wanna know what's gonna happen to you if you don't surrender?" snarled Nathan.

"Ogg jer kenn!"

"It doesn't speak English..." muttered Lynn, holding the lightning sword she possessed.

"I'll MAKE it!" roared Nathan, and suddenly, there was a very bright light shining from the center of Navenstrae. Nathan's entire body and Navenstrae erupted into white fire, and there was a surge of energy.

CRASH!

The entire forest shook violently, and things fell from the shelves in other rooms and in people's houses.

The monster was suddenly on fire, screaming horribly and melting...

"Craishe nervio!" yelled Nathan. Immediately, the flaming monster was smashed into a bloody pulp by a million invisible fists. (Actually, it's nervous system convulsed powerfully as the air pressure around it increased, then its nervous system sent signals to its muscles that caused it to end up like that. But nobody needs to know that.)

"Eww...did he have to do that?" muttered Paula, sticking out her tongue.

Nathan stormed wordlessly by them, and the door shut forcefully.

"What's his deal?" spat Kumatora, stung.

"It got in somehow, that's what," answered Jack, not rudely.

Lucas, meanwhile, had been thinking carefully.

"What is YES?" he asked the window.

YANNABI...THAT'S ALL I CAN TELL YOU. SPIRITTELLINGPOWERLIMITED...

And then the condensation vanished.

"Yannabi...Yannabi E S...those have to be initals for something...I think..."

He suddenly realized what he had to do, and sprinted by the group like Nathan had, wordlessly. He pounded on Nathan's door, and it flew open.

"Nathan! I know what killed George Burns! I know what that monster is!" he cried.

Nathan's expression turned from furious to intrigued.

"Really?" he asked. "Hmm...come on, let's go to the libraries. I might be able to find out more about these beasts. Ever since the whole Escaryuba fiasco, we've been keeping a careful log of other alien species. I know that that was an alien...I just dunno what kind..."

The pair headed for the libraries, followed curiously by the others.

"So what's it called?" inquired Nathan.

"Yannabi E S. E and S are initials. Remember what George Burns wrote on that window when we asked who killed him? YES? That stood for Yannabi E S...that boy was George Burns, Nathan, and that's why they were trying to remove his essence, even!"

Nathan's eyes, normally a blood red, changed violently, becoming a firey crimson.

"Come on, then! We don't have much time to lose!" he shouted. The group ran down the halls, past startled Order members and into the library. Nathan summoned a book and flipped through it to the Y section.

Yaba...Yamasor...Yannabi...Yannabi, here...it says that evil members of the Yannabi are known as Yannabi Ergo Ser...whatever that means...Ergo is Latin, and ser is Spanish for 'to be...' I'm assuming that roughly translates to 'Yannabi to be Ergo...' Ergo might mean evil, because they don't use Latin, clearly...'Yannabi to be Evil...Yannabi is Evil?'" He paused. "Ah, yes, that would make sense. It also says that the Yannabi are a very peaceful and friendly race, and since they have no weapons, they won't be any help to us against these evil shaman things coming from their planet...ergh, I really wish I knew how to handle this. And who's lead...wait...oh, yeah...that might explain it...yes! THAT'S IT!"

"WHAT!" screamed everyone else.

"The ruby S has everything to do with the YES and the brown beasts from the Escaryuba-fighting times.

"The brown beasts are being tamed and trained by the YES, because the Escaryuba left them there. The YES want a planet of their own, but are having trouble marshaling their forces and organizing everything. That's where Mr. S comes in. You see..."

He paused sadly.

"...I have a brother."

Duster scowled. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"My brother's name is Slater. The ruby S is his emblem, like Navenstrae is a sort of symbol of mine. His right arm is completely mechanical, like my left arm. There was a bit of an incident right before I made that agreement with Rycoulth. He flipped out completely and...his mind wasn't right. He's actually older than I am, but I was the one in command because of...well, you know, the whole Order thing. He sided with the Escaryuba, but didn't personally help them. Now that the YES are here, he's taken up position of their leader and he's hell-bent on stopping us. Oh, God. This is bad...he's incredibly powerful, like me...and he's got command of a force of evil shamans. We're gonna have a tough time of this one..."

"We've got the whole bloody Order at our command! We've got wyverns..." began a voice at the door. Chris had evidently been listening.

"AIIEEE!"

"Now what!"

The group ran towards the source of the noise, which was a room labeled "Nursery."

Baby wyverns were being shepherded away from a monster identical to the one Nathan had just killed. A single baby wyvern lay dead on the floor as an Order member dueled the monster, which was firing dark spells everywhere.

"Braechas Luz!" roared Ness, bursting through the door. He had evidently remembered the one spell Hydra had taught him. The beast was hit in the side and its spine splintered, rendering it paralyzed. Ness plunged the blade into its chest, swiftly killing it, then turned. "The wyverns are safe."

The Order member nodded; she and her friend allowed the wyverns to play again.

"Hmm...looks like they're immune to our anti-enemy spells..." growled Nathan. "Come on. We've got a job to do."

He quickly cast some extra spells around, then they followed him out into the village with a plethora of Order members.

"Our best and brightest," he explained. Lynn, Jack, and Chris were among them. "Stations, everyone!"

The Order members took their places around town, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"Alright, this is good," said Nathan. "At least..."

Yelling was soon heard. A woman and her child were being dragged from their home by a YES. Lucas, thinking quickly, ran to it and sliced at its legs with Scylla. There was a lot of gore in the next minute involving alien limbs and blood, but soon, the blood was gone from Scylla and the dismembered corpse was...also gone.

More yelling. A group of Order members killed it.

Soon, the entire town was filled with the monsters. Left and right, Order members were seen fighting. Fully-grown wyverns were flying out from their normal haunts and scorching the YES with fire and ripping them apart with claws. Some were even thrown into trees, where they were impaled on sharp branches. The Order was certainly winning.

It was a bloody massacre that night in the Order refugee town. There was a lot of cleaning up to do. Ness nearly had his arm ripped off, Lynn got a horrible gash, Nathan's nose was broken horribly and his mechanical arm was smashed apart, but eventually it all got fixed, and Ness' arm was reattached and Lynn's gash was healed and Nathan's nose was healed and his mechanical arm fixed.

* * *

Finally, it was around midnight when the beasts stopped coming.

"Good," sighed Nathan. "We'd best get to bed. Come on, up to my place."

That night, they slept well. Ness hadn't slept in a bed on his adventures, ever, excluding when he was alone and scared beginning his quest to defeat Giygas, so it felt nice to finally do that.

* * *

Review, please!

An eventful chapter, I'd say, and the first in a while.

Wow. I re-read RotE, and there were a lot of typos. Did NOT notice that. There were less later, but still. Typos. ARGH.

As I'm writing this, it is 12:34 PM Eastern time, March 12, 2011, and I'm listening to a little-known song called Shiver.

I'm planning on addin' a second pairing. But it CAN be stopped, by popular vote! (I'm not too inclined to it meself. O.O)

Next Chapter: PSI Rockin' Ð


	8. Past Memories

Chapter 8: Past Memories

The YES are now intent on taking command of Earth under Nathan's brother Slater. Oh. Great.

(Ergo is Latin and ser is Spanish, yes. I dunno what Ergo means, though. But obviously the Yannabi don't use Latin. So I made it up. .)

A couple vocabulary notes: Temporal relates to time, so when I say transtemporal I mean transitioning (moving, basically) through time. (I'm not calling you all

dunces; it's just that a lot of people don't seem to know what temporal means.) Also, I use the phrase "Order/refugee identification" to mean the tattoo that someone

needs to see and access the restored Podunk. (Only Order members can enter the base, and you can't portal/teleport into it. I think you can do that out of it, though.)

Hmm...I'm going to do something now. Like write this chapter.

Read and review!

* * *

Ness yawned. Then he glanced at the window. The blinds were down.

"Morning, everyone," he mumbled sleepily, before falling out of his bed. He was exhausted after the previous day's fighting.

"Urgh. Hey," answered Lucas, who was already awake.

"I don't really remember yesterday," laughed Ness.

"I do." Lucas shuddered. "I...I didn't like it."

"Neither did I," admitted Ness. "Big fat bloody mess, and I was standing in it. Like when we discovered Pronch's body back in Winters."

The battle against the Escaryuba, finding Hydra and Scylla, meeting Nathan, exploring Tanetane, Rycoulth, Boney first learning magic, Poison Wood...it all seemed so

far away now. Now, they were facing a newer, stronger, and more deadly enemy than just a bunch of living bananas...

Ness shook himself and returned to the present. None of that mattered now. What mattered was that the YES were after them, and somehow, they could get into the

Order base and refugee city - not good. They didn't even need an Order/refugee identification. Apparently, whatever spell was on Podunk wasn't working against the

YES.

Not a good situation.

Either way, they were fighting now, and it seemed that another adventure had started.

Suddenly there was a loud yawn from behind Lucas that made him jump; Duster was awake.

"Mmf...no...I don't want a baked bean slathered in blood for breakfast...get away...I'll make my own food..."

Ness snorted, but Lucas burst out laughing and fell onto the floor. Duster leapt out of his bed, swinging his head left and right.

"Wuzzah!" he cried.

"Relax, Duster, it's just Lucas...laughing at your bloody bean dream," explained Ness calmly, sitting in a chair. The blinds were down, but he could tell it was still dark.

Yet the clock read 9:17 AM. Something seemed amiss. Ness stormed to the window and pulled up the blinds. It was pitch-black, raining, and there was lightning.

Not good.

"Dammit!" yelled Ness, loudly enough to wake Kumatora, who yelled out something along the lines of "I don't want a burrito!" and sat straight up. They had all fallen

asleep in their clothes - which was actually a good thing, seeing as someone was already yelling for help within the base. Ness and Lucas reacted first (seeing as they

had awakened first) and sprinted out of the room.

"It's coming from over there!" directed Lucas, pointing to their right. They descended from the overhanging platforms (Ness actually leapt over the railing) and went

down another hallway. Then they turned left into a room where several YES had cornered a man in his early twenties.

"PK Burst!" shouted Ness, whipping out Hydra. After the initial PSI, he delivered a quick slash to its back. When it turned around, he skewered it and then turned to

face the one on his left, while Lucas dueled two others.

Then came the twist.

As Lucas killed one he was facing, the other two whirled around and seized weapons off of the walls. Swinging them wildly, the YES were able to drive the duo back

before closing in on their prime target.

"Not on my watch!" roared a familiar voice, and quite suddenly several rather sharp objects flung themselves at the YES, effectively killing them.

"Flynn!" gasped Lucas.

"That's right," replied Flynn. "I was passin'...heard the cries for help, decided to investigate. That wouldn't be you crying, would it?"

"No, no," said Lucas. "It was that guy." He indicated the shivering man slumped on the ground.

"Right. Well, I gotta go. I have a job." And he was off.

"What was that about?" asked Paula, who had just arrived, along with Duster, Kumatora, Poo, and Boney. Nathan was nowhere to be found.

"Uhh. Hi. Paula." Ness grinned sheepishly, attempting to wipe the blood off of Hydra behind his back.

"I hate it when you use those swords. It gets so...gory."

"It's a sword. Swords are sharp," shrugged Duster nonchalantly.

"Sharpness equals blood," said Kumatora.

("Arrf.")

"Aaannywaay..." said Lucas. "I don't exactly think this place is the safest. After all, the Yannabi Ergo Ser can get in."

"HOLD ON!" shouted Ness just as Nathan arrived on the scene, unnoticed but with a familiar figure next to him. "What if the Yannabi Ergo Ser can get in..." - he rummaged in his pocket for something - "...because of THIS!" He held up the ruby S.

"There's a theory," said Nathan, startling several. He walked up to Ness, then abruptly smashed the S in one blow with a flaming white fist. "I think that's the only thing that can destroy his emblems."

"I think it's like a key. Defensive spells don't affect the YES when this thing is around. This could be a problem...what if Slater comes here with an army of YES, brandishing that emblem...?" Lucas trailed off.

"I might just do that, yeah," scoffed a voice from behind Duster (he promptly spun around so fast that the stranger was startled).

"Slater!" growled Nathan, Navenstrae materializing in his hands once more.

"Watch what you do, hear me?" snarled Ness, poking Slater in the chest lightly with Hydra.

Slater scowled. He was only slightly taller than Nathan (but younger than Duster and Kumatora) and dressed like some sort of cyborg army commander. (AN: I'm just gonna leave you guys to imagine that. It's really hard to describe. Just think of an army commander in dark gray with a cyborg mixed in.)

"And you better watch where you're waving that sword." A strange-looking axe materialized in his hand. It was brown and green, and it slightly resembled a tree. A forest-coloured gem glowed brightly between handle and blade.

"That belongs to Seth, you scum!" shouted Nathan.

"Yeah? Doesn't seem like he can hold much of his own against me. Wonder how he gets along fighting those giant hordes on his own?" sneered Slater.

"Seth?" wondered Ness.

"Seth's a bird. A cardinal, to be exact. He's like Flynn - but without magic. Ergh. Really hard to explain...I'd have to show you after this!" Nathan suddenly lunged out and smashed Navenstrae's blade into the axe Slater carried; he recoiled and Nathan took a quick step back to avoid the resulting swing. "And he only lost to you because you ambushed him while he was sleeping, right!"

"Not for you to know!"

Ness stood still next to Paula, uncertain of what he should do. Just then, Slater spat in Nathan's face.

"Don't play dirty like that," scolded Ness, the blade of Hydra biting into Slater's mechanical arm as he inadvertently swung it straight down.

"I'll play how I want, and some little punk isn't going to dictate it!" shouted Slater before a metal-soled boot smashed into the back of his head and he was knocked out.

"And I'm not a little punk," said Duster, rather elegantly. At that moment, nearly everyone in the room (besides the unconscious Slater and the raging Ness) caught a vision of Duster in a tuxedo and top hat.

"Hmm. Maybe we can make use of this," remarked Nathan, kneeling and removing the ruby S from his brother's mechanical arm (it was in the shoulder-piece). "Find out HOW it blocks our spells, and come up with a counter-spell."

"Neat," said Kumatora, although she wasn't really paying attention.

"But first, let's jinx this moron and stick him back out in the wild," growled Nathan. "Carcero Arachna!"

Instantly, spiderwebs wrapped themselves around Slater, leaving only his face exposed. He was still unconscious.

"Carcero!"

Ropes tied up his feet. "Just in case," added Nathan before creating a quick portal and manually tossing Slater into it. For all his usage of magic to lift things, he was

awfully strong. He brushed his hands together as the portal closed.

Just then, Ness realized that his dog was standing nearby.

"King!" he cried gleefully, petting the dog. "Wait. How'd you get here?"

"I brought him here," explained Nathan. "We got here just as Ness had that epiphany. And it's a very good one, too...I'll need to examine this." With a flick of his wrist the ruby S vanished. Then he twirled Navenstrae casually. "Hmm. Let's have breakfast, shall we?"

The group went out into the lobby and finally out of the door, hoping for some coffee and toast.

"Oh, my," said Paula. "Is this reminding anyone of anything?"

"Meh. They probably just found a broken Escaryuba machine and fixed it up. No worries," chucked Nathan, and he quickly instructed some leaving Order membersto search for it. (Now, you may think Nathan is very lazy, but remember everything else he does? It's not really a surprise that, for once, he doesn't feel like doing ithimself.)

What was this about?

Earlier that day, Ness had looked out of the window. It was dark and storming. Now they were outside in it, and not too happy.

"In here," instructed Nathan. They ducked into a small café, which was toasty and somewhat crowded. Breakfast was being served. There were no tables largeenough to fit them all, so Nathan more or less stretched two walls out with magic (he attracted the attention of many villagers and Order members; the latter weren't all that concerned) and conjured up a very large sat with Paula and Jeff. Jeff had not woken up with the rest of them, as he had stayed up very late working on an "essential invention," or so he called it.

"What was that invention about, anyway?" asked Paula.

"Hmm? Oh, the Hypersonic Flak Gun? It shoots metal at around 107 kilometers per second," answered Jeff.

"Hypersonic Flak Gun? Why would we need a Flak Gun in the first place, let alone one that fires things at hypersonic speeds!" exclaimed Ness.

"Well, if you're hoping to take down a Yannabi Ergo Ser from a range, one or two lasers isn't going to take it down. Bazookas work for a oneshot kill, but it takes a lot of metal and gunpowder to make those rockets - I gotta get them from a special company back in Winters, or make them at Snow Wood. So, I thought, why not make a gun that can kill a Yannabi Ergo Ser in one hit using a projectile that can be found nearly anywhere, and uses less energy?

"And that's how I came up with the HFG. Look." He removed the prototype from his bag and opened a compartment. "See here? That's the energy source - it's a combination of pure kinetic/hydraulic energy and a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter, or gunpowder. Using this combination, the projectile - several of which

can be loaded into here - can attain speeds of up to 107 kilometers per second."

"Ookaay," said Ness, grimacing as he imagined the damage a projectile moving that quickly could do.

"It's still just a prototype, however..." began Jeff, but the waitress appeared just then (thankfully) and slid their breakfasts down to them. Bacon, fried eggs, toast, and some nice coffee...mmm.

"Hey, you guys are fourteen. Why are you drinking coffee?" asked Lucas, who had water like Boney and King.

"I've never tried it," admitted Paula. She took one taste, then reluctantly swallowed it. "Not my thing."

"I'll take it," said Ness. "It's an acquired taste." Paula slid her cup over to Ness, who was sitting next to her.

"I like coffee...I mean, my father made it every morning, so I just went with it..." said Jeff.

Nathan, meanwhile, was not drinking a coffee, but instead some sort of glowing, bright red liquid.

"It's something from another planet," he explained to Duster and Kumatora, who were closest. "I gotta conjure it, 'cause they don't serve it here. Wanna try some?"

He quickly conjured another mug and offered it to Duster, who, grinning, took a drink.

"My God. It's delicious!" He laughed.

"I'll try," offered Kumatora. Soon all three had finished drinking, but just then Kumatora and Duster began to float slightly above their seats.

"Oops!" laughed Nathan. "Sorry, forgot - when you drink it for the first time, you tend to float a few inches off of the ground. Happened to me, too. It'll wear off in a few minutes."

Breakfast passed rather uneventfully. When they came out of the café, the rain had stopped, and children were already playing. Ness noticed bloodstains on the cobblestone roads, but did not mention them. He knew they were from the previous night's assault, and they came from the YES. Why everyone else insisted on referring to them by their full names, he did not know.

King licked his lips. ("Downright delicious bacon!") he yipped gleefully.

("Seconded!") cried Boney.

"The motion carries," drawled Ness jokingly; a few people who understood laughed.

"What? What's going on!" asked Duster, whipping his head from side to side. Duster had no telepathy and could not understand the dogs - all he heard was barking.

"Nothing, just a joke," said Ness.

"Oh...um...okay," mumbled Duster, not knowing what kind of joke ended with "the motion carries."

Suddenly, they noticed a large crowd huddled at a window, where many TVs broadcasted the same thing.

"Wonder what's going on?" said Nathan. He led them over to the crowd, then scowled. "We might be here a while." Rather aimlessly, he muttered "Flagrantis!" and allowed the flaming ribbon to twist around his arm like a large firey snake.

"...police have not identified the stranger, but the video has prompted the FBI to begin a full-scale investigation of Twoson. This is Sheba Rails, for Eagleland News.

Back to you, Bob."

"Hold up. What? FBI?" said Nathan. He muttered a spell; the TV rewinded and the video was played over. "Okay. That is DEFINITELY a YES. Look - it's really blurry, but if you do this..." - another spell, and the image enhanced sharply - "...it is certainly a YES. Come on. We need to go, and now!" He seemed frantic.

They quickly boarded the Vermillion Bullet and shot back to Twoson. They attempted to be as inconspicuous as possible as they exited the station, but -

"Hey! Over there!"

Several FBI agents stormed them, brandishing pistols.

"Freeze, dirtbags! We know it was you guys who stole the money!" shouted one.

("Stay calm, everyone,") said Nathan telepathically. ("I have an idea.")

("When do you not?") asked Ness.

("You'd be surprised,") replied Nathan. He slowly raised his arms, then suddenly barked:

"RATOMORTES!"

Time stopped.

Ness gasped. Everything was frozen. The bullets the agents had fired were frozen there, perfectly intact. Everyone was frozen besides Nathan and Lucas, who both frowned.

"Neither of you should be able to resist that...but yet...maybe it runs in the blood. I don't know," said Nathan. "Hmm. Let's do this..."

He opened a portal and the men were sucked into it, vanishing.

"I sent them to Scaraba. They won't know what hit 'em," laughed Nathan. Then he looked around. "I'd best get the others out of the way."

A short while later (actually, it wasn't even a nanosecond, seeing as time was frozen, but either way), they had moved everything to their advantage. The FBI agents had all been sent to Scaraba, and then Nathan yelled "RATOVIDAR!"

Time started again.

"AAAH!" everyone screamed loudly. Then..."Huh!"

"What happened?" asked Paula.

"Where are the FBI?" wondered Duster.

"We took care of it," said Nathan, not detailing anything. "Let's go see that whole video. I wonder how they thought it was us?"

"Someone brainwashed them?" Ness suggested. "That thing in the video was clearly not a human."

"Any idiot would know that. That musta took some SERIOUS brainwashing," scoffed Kumatora.

"That's my point. Anyone who can that drastically change a belief (likely by magic) must be pretty powerful," said Ness thoughtfully.

"Hmm...I see what you're getting at," nodded Nathan. "We've got someone powerful on our hands."

"Probably Slater," noted Duster darkly.

"Probably Slater," agreed Lucas.

"Hmm. How's that gonna work?" wondered Ness sarcastically. "I dunno, we've got the FBI on our bloody hands now!"

"That's a problem. They're humans, so we can't kill them like we can these evil aliens hell-bent on world domination." Kumatora scowled. "What are we gonna do?"

"We could always just ignore them," suggested Lucas. "I mean, look how easily we just took them down without harming anyone!" He picked up a bullet from the ground and examined it. Duster and Kumatora watched him, then looked at one another. (I do not know the meaning of this strange gesture, but it had some significance to them.)

"Right. What Lucas said," stated Nathan. "Now, we need to find out how to stop Slater and his charmed 's' symbols..."

FWOOSH!

Arcturus came out of the blue, landing next to them and startling many passerby. A crowd gathered to watch the group.

("You know, it's possible Slater could have vanished into the Nowhere Islands. After all...he might be expecting us to search Eagleland only.")

"Wise words indeed. We must do the opposite of what Slater expects," said Poo.

"What?" asked Duster.

"I keep forgetting that you don't have telepathy," laughed Nathan. "We're going to the Nowhere Islands. Slater might have gone there."

"Now there's an idea," nodded Duster enthusiastically.

Nathan quickly opened a transtemporal portal and they flew through it.

The Nowhere Islands were the same as ever in most respects. But alas! As with all things that contain, involve, or associate with evil, it was constantly changing, a many-headed monster that...lost a lot of heads to stray birds and falling leaves. And some butterflies.

"Quit with the analogies!" snapped Kumatora.

"This is great," mumbled Ness. "We've got a jealous older brother who knows dark magic on our hands."

"It's like a sitcom," said Paula. "But people die and stuff blows up."

"What's a sitcom?" asked Duster.

"Oh, yeah...I forgot...the sitcom was a doomed genre back in Eagleland," laughed Ness. Everyone laughed, then realized they were acting like they were in a sitcom.

They stopped.

"Right," declared Nathan. "He could be anywhere - ANYWHERE. Where do we start?"

"The mountains," stated Lucas.

"Wait!" interjected Kumatora. "Doesn't the bad guy always hide in the mountains? And you KNOW Slater isn't your stereotypical villain...first off, he didn't even remain in the same time period, unlike most villains, who hide in their little mountain hideouts." She was detailing the stereotype of a villain. "And since Slater isn't like that..."

"Hold up," said Nathan. "I've seen enough TV to know that sometimes, villains flee into the future after changing the past drastically for their own ends...but I've only known one villain to flee into the past...and nobody remembers much about him...her...it..."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Ness, smiling as he realized what was going on. (Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney became confused at these remarks.)

"Exactly," said Nathan, also smiling. Jeff, Paula, King and Poo were...also all smiling.

"Giygas," said Jeff softly.

"Exactly," stated Nathan factually. "So do you know where we're going?"

"The past?" guessed Lucas.

"Exactly," reiterated Nathan. "Now, the past has a whole different set of rules than the future.

"One. You may not talk with past selves or parents if you encounter them. They could kill you, believing you to be mad.

"Two. Don't harm anyone. Do not kill a single bug. It might not be that drastic if you kill a gnat, but don't kill many.

"Three. There are a LOT of paradoxes involving transtemporal travel. Careful with those.

"Four. If we DO find Slater...optimistically, WHEN we do..."

"Pollyanna," grumbled Duster.

"I heard that," said Nathan, but he was still smiling. "Four. We need to corner Slater and force him into...well, we'll think about that when the time comes."

Ness frowned. "We goin'?"

"Yeah, yeah," answered Nathan hastily; his hands were a blur as he rapidly conjured a transtemporal portal.

And they dove into the past.

It was a long ride - much longer than they'd imagined. Maybe it was because they were speeding both back to Eagleland, and then MORE.

"Now entering an era called the 70's. Specifically...August 8th, 1971. 12:37 PM," narrated Nathan.

They tumbled out into a construction site.

"Hey, you can't be here!" shouted a guy. "Go on, git! We're building some new towns! This'n is called Onett!"

"I was born here..." mumbled Ness. "It's weird to see it being built."

"Yes, it is," said Nathan, "but at the moment, we better get outta here." They dusted themselves off and slipped away into the nearby forest.

"So where are we going?" asked Duster.

"I believe we are going to Podunk," answered Poo, "seeing as that is one of the only civilized places in Eagleland at the present time."

"Don't say the word time," groaned Kumatora.

"That's exactly where we're going," said Nathan. "Oh. Time."

She groaned again. There was a ripple of laughter, then it was gone.

A short while later, they had reached Podunk.

"Welcome to Podunk!" read the city gate. A small sign nearby informed travelers of local landmarks. The group ignored it and struggled through the gate.

"Podunk, eh?" said Duster.

"Podunk in the 1970's," corrected Nathan.

"And Kumatora expects to find Slater...here?" asked Ness, ignoring that the first-mentioned person was right next to him.

"Yes, I do," growled Kumatora.

"Don't be so hostile," scolded Paula.

"Back to the point," said Nathan, "we need to get searching."

"Shame Arcturus ain't here," said Duster, glancing around.

"The only flaw in using Arcturus to search is that a giant wyvern with a bunch of people who weren't even born yet flying through the sky would attract...attention," finished Jeff.

"We're going to search on foot, then," stated Lucas.

"Unfortunately," said Nathan, "Slater is very good at hiding."

("You and your estranged family members,") growled King.

"I heard that," replied Nathan, smiling slightly. "We may need to use a few tricks of our own."

Boney looked up. ("Like when we had to get back to Eagleland and trace Hydra and Scylla?")

"Exactly. A...learned...presence emnates a particular type of aura. We - " he took out Navenstrae, fiddling with it " - are going to find that aura. Now, in theory, Order members (my father is in charge at the time of speaking...) should emnate that aura, so we need a way to specify Slater's aura. I'll do this." He removed the ruby S from his pocket and muttered something. "I need to specify WHAT we're looking for..."

"...Kind of like a bloodhound," observed Ness.

"Precisely," answered Nathan, glancing around. He muttered a second incantation, then scowled. "Odd..."

"What is it?" asked Poo.

"A very faint signal is coming from...that mountain," replied Nathan after hesitating and then indicating the said mountain.

("I think I see something...why are the edges of that mountain quivering...") mumbled Boney. ("FORCEFIELD!")

"Typical villain," snorted Kumatora (Duster frowned in confusion, as he could not understand Boney). "We can't teleport, then?"

"Judging from the way the forcefield's edges are...quivering, as Boney so aptly put it, we probably won't be able to WALK through it either. It's like the Tanetane Escaryuba base forcefield."

"Wait!" yelled Jeff. Ness realized what he was going to say before he said it. "If it's like the Tanetane base forcefield...remember the suits? Where Maria was hiding?"

"Of course!" cried Ness. "I know!"

"What?" asked everyone but Jeff.

"My PSI may have leveled the base, but the suits are likely still there. If we can retrieve at least one, we can get INSIDE the forcefield and shut it down by magic!" exclaimed Ness. "No keycards here..."

"Brilliant!" shouted Nathan. "Another transtemporal portal, then?"

They were all getting pretty tired of time travel, as the answer was yes, but in a very disgruntled tone.

* * *

After whooshing through yet another portal, they tumbled out onto the shores of Tanetane (as the base was now nonfunctional, all magic and forcefields and PSI were

no longer in effect and they could essentially do anything they wanted).

"Say, uh, how does Arcturus travel through time without you?" Duster asked Nathan.

"He just visits Order bases and they let him through the portals," replied Nathan.

Ness, meanwhile, was sprinting towards the crushed Escaryuba base with the rest of the group. After going through the jungle, it was few quick jumps...climbing up a

wall that had collapsed and was now a lump of concrete...and he had found it. Now that he thought about it, if it weren't for the forcefields, the route to Maria,

Gygath, and Rycoulth was very straightforward.

"Hmmph!" Ness grunted as he kicked the thin sheet of metal out of the way and carefully extracted a suit from the rubble.

"Neato," said Kumatora. "Now what?"

"We head back," said Poo casually, and they did so. Nathan quickly conjured a portal, and they found themselves back in Podunk within moments (although they

were in a cramped garden shed.

Suddenly, the world faded.

"Noooo..." moaned Ness.

* * *

Dark. Dark and dank. He didn't think it would smell very good.

And there, in the middle. What was that? It was glowing faintly.

Confused.

Disorientated.

But it was conscious. And it was getting its memory back.

Tentacles flailed.

A tail lashed...tail?

Another figure, glowing faintly as well.

There was no air. They were making their own.

Darkness.

Darkness everywhere.

Where were they? Space?

Yes, that had to be it.

And they knew what they were going to do.

Runes glowed brightly.

"If we stop at the beginning...the ending is different," hissed a voice.

"Get rid of the enemy before they exist," rasped a second.

And Rycoulth and Gygath escaped back into the world.

* * *

Ness shot straight up.

"We got something worse than Slater to deal with right now," he said urgently. "And now."

"What is it?" urged Nathan.

"Rycoulth. Gygath. They've remembered what happened. They're not sure if the Escaryuba invasion is over, or if we won, or if we're dead, or what's happening," replied Ness. "And one of them said 'if we stop at the beginning, the end is different.'"

"End...different...stop...beginning..." muttered Jeff feverently. "I think I know."

"Stop at the beginning," said Nathan. "If they're talking about the beginning of us...are they?"

"I think so. They were angry, and it was at us," said Ness. "Wait! They also said to get rid of us before we exist..."

"That clears things up a bit," said Nathan. "Before we exist. Before we're born. Meaning...they'll kill our parents before we were all born. And, logically, they hate us the most, Ness. I was born a year before you. Our parents are around the same ages...but the only thing is, my parents are in another dimension."

"The question here is, whose parents are they going for first?" said Jeff.

"I don't know, but we'd better check." Nathan paused. "We could always send Order members around...if I was never born, and my father was dead, the Order itself would fall into disarray. Now, keep in mind that even though Order members know others from all time periods, so they know who I am, that doesn't change the basic rules of time. If I'm not born, they don't know who I am."

They followed Nathan out of the garden shed and to a hill. Since all of them (including the dogs) had Order tattoos, the beam of light that erupted from the hillside accepted them, and the side of the hill split open to reveal a very fancy, high-tech base, especially for the 1970s.

"Well," said Ness. "Whaddya know?"

Flat-screen monitors lined the walls of the main room, displaying live feed from security cameras all around the base.

"Wait a sec...isn't this the same Order Base that we visited 20-something years from...visit..." Duster frowned; he wasn't sure what tense to use. "Isn't this the same Order base that we...we VISIT...20-something years from now?"

"Yes, it hasn't changed much, and the technology matches 21st-century tech, because that's as far as humans got before they kind of blew themselves up, leaving only the Nowhere Islands..." replied Nathan.

"Ooo...21st-century," said Paula, examining a strange little device mounted on a plaque. It advertised its own usefulness among Order members who couldn't (or wouldn't) use magic, and those without telepathic ability.

"Smartphone," said Nathan cooly, as if it was completely unimportant. "I've got one, but it's merely a novelty to me, although it DOES let me communicate with people who don't have magic." He prodded the screen gently. A small keypad popped up. While the Order members walked by with a greeting, the group stared in awe at the "smartphone." Whatever that was.

Nathan dialed a number. "Hello? Ah, hi, Rose. Can you send a few Order members my way? They need to be pretty high-ranking, like Isaac...and they need to be able to use magic. What do you mean, why? Oh. Rycoulth's back. That's all I can say. I'll be waiting at the main entryway. Okay, thanks, bye." He pressed another button and hung up.

"Did you just make a PHONE CALL?" asked Ness, incredulous.

"Yep," grinned Nathan. He looked around for a moment.

"Shouldn't we get a move on?" said Duster.

"Ah! Yes!" exclaimed Nathan.

They headed out and glanced around. The only notable thing was a large mountain in the distance. Ness thought they should check the town square, but nothing was happening there. Nathan even muttered a quick check under his breath, but again, nothing but a guy who turned out to be Jack in disguise.

As they walked down a rather secluded path, someone appeared right in front of them in a helix of energy that spiraled downwards and cause a bright flash.

"Isaac!" exclaimed Nathan in delight; he hadn't seen his best friend in quite a long time. Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, and King also knew him, but only because he had teleported them to the Nowhere Islands when they were dealing with the demonic Vermillion Bullet. As for the other four...well, frankly, they were clueless.

Isaac grinned and surveyed the rather disheveled group.

"Well, this is...odd," he muttered. "How did you know Rycoulth is back?"

"Ehm...I call them 'psycho-ocular-audient anomalies...'" began Nathan.

Kumatora snorted. "Try saying that three times fast."

Nathan ignored her. "Ness occasionally experience a vision of something that's happening at that very moment or in the near future. From what I can gather, it's been happening since the beginning of the...ehm...rise of the Escaryuba..."

A large, stuffed duck dropped down with a sign that read "Rise of the Escaryuba." Confetti was flying everywhere and people were cheering. Then the duck vanished, as did everything else.

"That was unexpected," said Ness, nonchalant, as if nothing had happened.

"Aanyway..." said Nathan, to whom this sort of thing meant nothing but a distraction.

("Wait a sec!") woofed Boney, staring back the way they had come. ("What's that?")

A form was walking towards them. Since it was dusk, it was rather difficult to discern from its surroundings, but it was certainly a form.

And like that, it was gone. Paula felt as if her blood had turned to ice.

Then it was behind them, the way they were going.

Gone again.

"I think I know what this is, and if I'm right, we're in for trouble if we linger," hissed Nathan.

Three more forms teleported into their midst: Lynn, another girl, and, oddly enough, Chris, who they hadn't known COULD use magic.

"Yeah, I can use magic, I just prefer not to," he said calmly.

Just then, there was an earsplitting shriek.

"Come on!" urged Nathan, his eyes flashing from grey to crimson in a millisecond - one moment they were grey, next, crimson, faster than they could see any sort of fading.

"He's serious," muttered Lynn. "Come on. We really need to get off of this road."

"But we also need to press on," reasoned Duster.

"We're going to go the same way, just a bit faster, and huddle up!" instructed Isaac.

The group drew closer together. Ness put an arm around Paula's shoulders. On his other side, he felt Jeff shiver.

"You okay?" he whispered.

"Yeah," replied Jeff quietly. "Just chilly." They weren't sure why they were being quiet, because, from what they could tell, the thing already knew they were there.

And every so often, there was a hushed little gasp as the figure, which never got nearer or farther as long as they kept moving, suddenly appeared about 30 meters away. Then it would vanish again.

After 10 silent, terse minutes, they heard Kumatora shout and a line of flame erupted from nowhere at the shadowy figure that had taken a chance at abducting one group member.

But it had picked the wrong one.

It obviously had some sort of physical form, as she shoved it away before delivering a well-aimed right hook into its jawbone. "PK Freeze!"

The freeze hit quickly, and the being was deep-frozen down to its very bone marrow, and then, before anyone else could react, Ness shattered it with his bat.

They walked onwards. Nathan quickly performed a spell that caused the planet to rotate backwards and day to be restored. Then they walked more.

Finally, the road curved around, leading through a populated part and right into the mountain.

"Nothing," sighed Nathan. "We may well - "

("Wait a second! If Rycoulth and Gygath aren't here this very moment...we can do something!") woofed Boney. ("You forgotten about Slater?")

Suddenly, Nathan's eyes widened and flashed back to grey. He grinned. "Yep. Let's do that first."

He put on the suit, stepped through the forcefield, and removed it with a few well-chosen incantations. Then the group stepped through.

* * *

AWRIGHT! FINALLY! I FINISHED THIS #$%#$ CHAPTER!

Phew. After months of being gone, I'm back. Maybe I'll write more. (:P)

What? Oh. Right. Forgot to mention: A combination of being away from home, writer's block, and not being online was the cause for my disappearance.

Okay. Not much of an endnote, just thanks to my fans who have been waiting diligently for this. If I have any. Which I prolly don't. (Lawl.)

Next chapter: Heart of the Mountain


	9. Heart of the Mountain

Chapter 9: Heart of the Mountain

Well, first NEW new chapter. I mean, new as in created after my "return" to writing.

Also, I have never played Mother 1, and haven't the faintest idea what Podunk looks like. The mountain and path are made-up. Unless they were actually there, in which case I will laugh. Then I will go cry until something important happens, or I forget how to speak Spanish.

Got some stuff here for ya. Go read it. And REVIEW it this time! :\

* * *

Ness trudged slowly up the mountain. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. Was Slater going to be at the top? It seemed that way; as the slope became steeper and steeper with every tedious step, they began climbing steadily upwards (Nathan conjured a rope and pick out of nowhere and climbed up first).

"Why can't we just fly?" asked Duster pointedly, after a still silence. The question had been on everyone's minds, but nobody had bothered to ask it; if they did talk, it was in a whisper, and not one person was sure why.

"You'll see on this ledge here," said Nathan calmly.

He hoisted himself up onto the ledge and tugged the rope. Grudgingly, the rest dragged themselves onto the ledge as well.

Three massive white boulders laid on a mat of dead trees that had evidently been formed into some sort of nest.

Ness was prodding at them, attempting to discern exactly what they were, when Paula said rather loudly "What do they hatch into?" He was about to argue that they were just boulders when Nathan replied, "Rocs."

Eggs!

Duster examined one carefully. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from above.

"And there's one now!" yelled Nathan as everyone dove out of its path. The massive bird slammed into its eggs, which somehow remained intact, although not in very good condition.

Ness understood: the bird was defending its unhatched young.

Nathan whipped out Navenstrae faster than anyone could turn their heads and launched a volley of green spheres at the beast; it squawked in anguish and launched itself backwards from the ledge, then prepared to execute another diving attack. Quickly and as a pair, Hydra and Scylla flashed out from Ness and Lucas' packs. As the bird dove once more, the twin blades embedded themselves deep in the shoulderblades.

"PK CRESCENT!" roared Lucas as Scylla came free; energy surged into the wound and crackled around the afflicted wing, causing the bird to scream in rage and pain as its crippled wing flapped limply; it spiraled out-of-control and slammed into the mountain below them. It was still.

"Cmon, Slater's gonna know we're here," commanded Nathan urgently.

"With that kind of noise, EVERYTHING will know we're here," snorted Kumatora. Nathan scowled but said nothing.

A particularily rough and steep slope awaited them up ahead. "We can fly now," pointed out Duster.

"Good point," grinned Nathan. He narrowed his eyes, which turned rather foggy, and moments later Arcturus came out of nowhere.

("I swear...I hate portals,") he said as he flew up to them with the speed and agility of a fighter jet.

"And you can take flying at speeds upwards of 300 kilometers per second, coupled with insane loops and tricky rolls," said Nathan, smirking.

Arcturus beat his wings in apparent frustration at Nathan's comment, but the corners of his jaws crinkled nonetheless; they supposed he was smiling.

They mounted the wyvern, who took off almost immediately, closely followed by Nathan, who was putting the immense leathery wings sprouting from his back to good use. (His father was a dragon, and his sister sported these wings as well. Slater might have had them too. Ness wasn't sure.)

* * *

Arcturus soared around the mountaintop for a bit, Nathan dropping down to an unseen nook in the mountain every few minutes. Finally, he yelled out in glee.

"Come here!" he shouted, practically dancing a joyous Irish river dance.

Arcturus dove in. In the very back of a large cave, near the very top of the mountain, light seeped in through a small crack. It was a hot, red light.

"It's an active volcano..." muttered Nathan. Arcturus nodded. "Go back to the base. I will call you when we need you. You've done well, go rest!" Arcturus nodded again and shot off.

("Romperis!") barked Boney suddenly. The wall crumbled away to reveal the opening vent of a volcano, capped by rock. And far below - a seething mass of lava.

They all paused for a minute, looking at it.

"Cheers," grinned Nathan, and he leapt off the edge of the vent. Paula gasped in horror, and they rushed to see what had happened.

Nathan was gently hovering, a silvery forcefield enveloping him. It shimmered, even in the odd, unwavering light. "You think I can't get through a mile of molten rock?" he chuckled. "Cmon. I'll perform this little spell for you all, and we'll just dive in, shall we?"

It seemed like an odd prospect, but Duster shrugged and stepped up first. Nathan muttered something and drew a single rune, and Duster jumped off the edge rather uncerimoniously. Next, Ness stepped up. Then he looked right down and felt fear grip his stomach. He couldn't be afraid...he had to do this...

"Tego phyicalis..." muttered Nathan again, drawing the same rune. He plummeted down, down...and when he opened his eyes he hit the magma. It did not penetrate the silvery casing that enveloped him, however; instead, he had the impression of being in a large bubble and observing the outside world. Then, quite suddenly, he was out of the magma and falling through a thin veil, on the other side of which he found Duster, grinning at him as he landed on his stomach on the floor of the volcano, which was made from hardened magma. The silvery shield popped as Paula dropped neatly down beside him, landing on her feet. She glanced upwards, then quickly sidestepped as Kumatora and Lucas landed adjacent to one another, followed by Jeff, Boney, Poo, and King. Finally, Nathan appeared from the other side of the veil (which was preventing the magma from falling down on their heads and making a very hot ceiling).

"We need to hurry," said Nathan. "If Rycoulth and Gygath really ARE going to kill our parents in the past, and Slater's aim is to throw us off into the future and then take over the world...'

He did not finish this sentence; instead, they hurried down a passage. Passage after passage, they found nothing but hot rock walls, and heard a kind of muffled roar every so often. Ness noticed that this roar became louder with every passage they followed, and Nathan seemed hell-bent on reaching the sound.

After the roar did not sound for a while, Nathan slowed down, and turned to address them. "Slater's bound to be in the direction of that roaring. There's something in these passages guarding him...the little..."

What Slater was they did not find out, as suddenly the ground quaked around them. It stopped. Quaked again.

"Uh-oh..." said Kumatora quietly.

A rock-encrusted lizard with six legs rounded the corner and spotted them with gleaming yellow eyes that shone eerily in the darkness. It let out a roar.

Immediately, Ness, Lucas, and Nathan fired bolts of energy at it; these bolts of energy merged in midair to form a kind of crackling tricolour bolt that slammed into the rock-encrusted skin but did absolutely nothing.

"The Tricolour attacks," muttered Nathan. "They can really happen?"

Lucas was about to ask what the Tricolour attacks were when Boney came whizzing by them, barking loudly. Silver jets of light were bolting through the air past him, pelting the beast.

"Boney!" yelled Lucas. Nathan held him back and was about to draw the energetic dog back when they heard a growl and an anguished roar. Boney had somehow penetrated the rocks!

"Romperis!" cried Nathan aloud as Boney came streaking back using Rapa Etus. A jet of silver light shot out of his hand and cracked the ceiling, through which a strand of golden magma began to fall, puddling on the floor. They jumped back. "Oh! No! This place is gonna be flooded with lava soon! Cmon! We need to get rid of this thing fast, alright? Ness! Lucas! Fire away!" said Nathan very quickly and erratically. Ness and Lucas fired bolts of energy from Hydra and Scylla, which combined in midair, a gold and silver whirling bolt that was met by Navenstrae's bolt of energy, and then it crackled with greenish lightning -

There was a colossal explosion that rocked the entire mountain; Roc eggs tumbled down from the mountaintop and hatched into squealing young which immediately took flight and circled around the mountain in search of food, magma began to rise in the vent, very slowly, pressure built up under it, Slater came rushing out from a concealed niche, Kumatora used PK Ground and Slater fell, scorched by hot magma, teleported out of the crevice -

"PK ROCKIN' D!" shouted Ness.

Crisscrossing light pelted Slater, followed by several explosions, then a chain of bursts of light and one big explosion...then came the portal which sucked in energy and light and erupted into a mass of everything it swallowed times ten. Like the previous version, which had only been used once before on Tanetane Island, on Rycoulth's clones, energy swirled like a hurricane around Ness, who levitated, eyes glowing crimson, and the energy circled faster and closer before forcing itself outwards and unleashing more energy.

The twist on this?

The energy gathered into thousands of tiny spheres which each hit Slater in very, very fast succession, followed by a blinding flash in which they could see Slater's silhouette, illuminated by the massive burst of energy that decimated his mechanical arm -

- and suddenly, it was all gone.

Silence.

"Holy hell," said Kumatora.

Slater lay on the ground, panting, right arm a stub with a mass of gears, motors, and splintered-looking wires poking out of it. The ruby S also had a massive crack down the middle that was glowing slightly.

"Give it up, Slater!" ordered Nathan.

"No...besides, when Rycoulth and Gygath get their jobs done...nobody here will be alive!" Slater cackled gleefully. Immediately, Kumatora grabbed his wrists and forced his hands behind his back; kneeling down, she grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, causing him to yell in pain.

"Where are they going?" she demanded.

"Won't...tell..." gasped Slater.

All the rest of them saw was Kumatora's elbow draw back, next thing they knew there was a loud cracking noise and blood spattered onto the wall. The mountain trembled ominously as the molten rock puddle behind them grew steadily. The crack in the ceiling was widening...

Slater whimpered. Kumatora had broken his nose and had drawn back to punch him again when he yelled out two words.

"Dung beetle!"

Everyone paused. Just then, the crack in the ceiling widened so much a steady fall of magma was now pouring down onto the floor, creeping towards them.

"We need to get out of here," said Nathan. "Now." He muttered something and with a bright flash they were outside.

* * *

The mountain behind them trembled ominously, then exploded.

Lava cascaded down like a waterfall onto them. Nathan cast the same silvery shield spell from earlier and it bounced off of them, leaving a glowing pool of magma around them. It bore down on them like a flaming river, followed by what appeared to be a mudslide. Nathan said something that made Paula glare at him, looking scandalized, and that I will not write here because that would change the rating to M, and I do not want that to happen.

"Pyroclastic flow!" he yelled.

"PYROCLASTIC FLOW!" screamed Paula.

Duster and Ness were clueless; everyone else was looking fearfully at the mudslide, which was drawing closer.

"What's a pyro...thing...?" asked Ness.

"If either of you had paid more attention in 7th Grade Science, you might know," growled Paula.

"Hey! I didn't get a proper education, remember?" said Duster.

"A pyroclastic flow is when superheated...mud, essentially, is brought down during a volcanic eruption, forming a fast-moving wave of extremely hot, thick, deadly liquid," said Lucas informally.

"It's what happened to Pompeii after Mount Vesuvius erupted," said Nathan, although none of them but he knew what that meant, seeing as he was from another dimension where these locations likely existed. "But...now we know why Podunk was abandoned."

Indeed, people were hurrying down into the subway entrance. Nearly everyone was going there; a few were just driving off into the jungle, away from the flow. There was a loud noise from the subway and they heard a train begin to move, not a moment too soon: the flow cascaded down the metal stairs, melting them into a twisted heap.

"Come on," said Nathan, conjuring a portal. They leaped in, dragging Slater with them, and moments later tumbled into Eagleland, into a neighborhood shrouded by trees. "Ness, didn't your neighbor think every bug was a 'disgusting' dung beetle?"

"Yeah," said Ness slowly, beginning to understand.

"Precisely. Now, they're going to kill your parents before you were born, correct?" said Nathan. "So, I presumed, Slater's 'cryptic' message could have meant that Ness' parents already lived next to the dung-beetle-hating Mrs. Minch, but Ness hadn't been born yet. And that's why we're here."

All of them nodded in understanding. Just then, a delivery truck drove up to what Ness realized was his house. The deliverymen stepped out and knocked on the door. They heard a dog barking - possibly a dog his parents had had before his birth. Ness' mother opened it and the deliverymen handed her a clipboard, then, after signing it, she handed it back and the deliverymen brought in a large package, apparently a surprise mail-in sweepstakes win (Paula guessed...).

Something clicked in Ness' mind.

"They're in human disguises!" he hissed, and Nathan's eyes flashed dangerously, becoming a piercing gold. "Remember all those other times."

"Brilliant!" gasped Nathan.

"Perhaps it would be wise to stop them," pointed out Poo.

"Oh! Right!" said Nathan loudly as he rushed out of the bushes, closely followed by Ness and Lucas, and then the rest.

They charged to the door and attempted to yank it open. Locked. Poo quickly smashed it down with a well-placed punch to the door's framework, and they hurried inside.

The two deliverymen were struggling with the package. Finally, they set it down. Seeing Nathan, they looked at him, puzzled by his odd apperearance, then took in the rest of the group. Ness did a double take: he was looking at his parents, but 16 years younger. He hadn't seen his father since he was 8, even though he called most days of the week and wired payments to them until he could return home. He was 14. It had been 6 years.

"These are just deliverymen," muttered Jeff.

Just then, two other deliverymen stepped in through the door's wreckage. Walking into the room, one said, "We're here to help with the package."

One of the first two said, "We'd know if help had been sent." He waved a walkie-talkie.

"He means paperwork," said the other of the second set, elbowing the first.

They led his mother and father into the kitchen. Suddenly, something began to creep along the floor. A tail?

"They're transforming back into their original forms to kill my parents!" yelled Ness, driving Hydra through the wall; it hit Gygath in the shoulder and he yelled in agony. As Rycoulth darted around the corner, Nathan and Lucas fired beams that combined in midair (later, they would know this as a Dicolour attack). The resulting beam pierced Rycoulth and threw him into the refridgerator, which slammed down on top of him. Purplish blood leaked out from under it.

Gygath, meanwhile, lashed Ness with his tail, which had suddenly sprouted sharp blades. A gash appeared on Ness' face, spraying more blood onto the walls. His parents looked horrified. Just as Gygath was about to strike again, a loud clang resounded from behind him, and his knees buckled. "Paula!" Ness cried. He had never been more glad to see her. Well, maybe he had.

Rycoulth threw the fridge off of himself; it caught Nathan by surprise but Boney barked "Tego Physicalis!" and a silvery shield appeared around Nathan. The fridge bounced off faster than it had been thrown and slammed into Rycoulth's legs, spraying even more blood everywhere. Six glaives flew from his claws, but Duster launched an extremely well-aimed kick and all six of them were kicked sideways into the wall. Lucas darted towards them, pulled them out, and threw them right back, followed by King, who used PK Silver. A pulsating, revolving beam of silver light decimated everything, punching a hole in the wall.

Ness and Paula, momentarily distracted, were taken aback by Gygath suddenly forcing them back with a PSI wave and hitting them with rays of dark energy before charging up what appeared to be a massive and destructive beam of darkness, aiming right at Ness's parents around the corner. The rest of them were so busy battling Rycoulth they didn't notice.

If only he could finish charging this attack, thought Gygath, two of them would disappear forever...

That's when a crackling blade of yellowish energy whizzed through the air and struck Gygath squarely in the back. The sphere of darkness vanished, he convulsed, and then fell face-first onto the ground, leaking green blood but not dead. Nathan glanced back over his shoulder suddenly, thinking he might have seen someone move behind them. Nobody.

"Claus!" yelled Ness groggily from the floor. Paula hadn't even moved; he hoped she wasn't dead.

And then Rycoulth lunged sideways through the barrage of glaives, beams of energy, and Duster's boot, slashing Ness' father's throat.

Ness, Lucas, and Claus vanished.

Gone.

And as every one of them let out a cry, Navenstrae shuddered, flashed violently, and launched a whirling column of green flame combined with a sub-zero beam of energy, freezing and burning Rycoulth until he could take no more and vanished into a whirl of darkness.

It was silent.

* * *

...

Well? How'd you like the new chapter? Tragic, violent, peculiar, and transtemporal! And no ghosts or YES.

Y u nO rEviEW?

Ha. Take that, non-reviewers.

With Rise of the Escaryuba, I remember one incident in February of one year of its updating-run where I had about 200 people read it and one review.

On that note, please remember to click that button down there.

Ah, well. I'm going to write the next chapter. If you're reading this and it's up (which it may be) I probably have a bad case of authorrhea (a flow of being an author and writing waay too much).

FUN WORD OF THE DAY THAT I MADE UP: Malaudioparalysis (mal-awd-eeoh-paa-RAA-lih-sis) (n): Becoming paralyzed with fear or rage when hearing bad music.

Sentence: Lance was stricken with a bad case of malaudioparalysis when he heard a snatch of a Lady Gaga song.

God, I hate that woman. And Katy Perry. Lady Gaga seems rather arrogant and her music is awful. Katy Perry's music is a tad better but the videos are stuffed to the gills with innuendos.

That is why I'm getting together a band: to combat malaudioparalysis. If you would like to donate to the cause, please stop listening to bad music.

(And maybe send us some money for a drumset. Kidding! We can get one. :D )

Next chapter: History Never Repeats

Also, notice that some of my chapters are named after songs I like. Chapter 4, "Speed of Sound," was named after a Coldplay song.

The next chapter is named after a Split Enz song.

The story itself is named from a song lyric ("Cemeteries of London," also by Coldplay, has the lyric "there are curses to be broken," and I really liked that lyric. In fact, Coldplay is what inspired me to start a band anyway, besides combatting malaudioparalysis. Someone tell them that when I'm rich and famous. Which I don't expect to be.) Interesting fact? Huh?

And remember, review!

~ A-Lord-Over-Birds


	10. History Never Repeats

Chapter 10: History Never Repeats

I actually couldn't wait to write this chapter, so I didn't. I began writing immediately after finishing Chapter 9, which was done in three days. I started it September 1st, didn't write for a day, then wrote the majority of it today (September 3rd). Now, I'm planning on writing this one in one day. Wish me luck.

Also, this story is already almost 130 pages long. I'm going to try to extend it to around 380, even more than Rise of the Escaryuba (364 pages). That might mean about 20 more chapters. Hopefully this one will be long enough. Last one was 9 pages, I try to make each chapter around 10-12 pages. More is even better.

* * *

Nathan stepped on Gygath's body, driving the blade deeper into it. He shuddered, and Nathan stepped through the pool of his blood to look at the spot where Ness had vanished. Then he looked to where Lucas and Claus had vanished.

Just then, he realized something.

The people he had seen out of the corner of his eye. That had been them from the future. He knew that technically, he had already realized this, and acted, but not technically, not acted, and if he could change this he would, and that he had already thought this before.

Paradoxes were getting a bit confusing. He didn't care, but instead conjured a portal and beckoned everyone into it. They were all in tears.

"Is that it? Just...gone?" sobbed Paula. "We're gonna leave it?"

Nathan smiled at his idea but did not respond. Paula threw him a look of deepest loathing, but stepped into the portal nonetheless.

They flew through time into the same location, only they were standing behind themselves, with the three who had vanished. Rycoulth was about to lunge sideways...

"Braechas Luz!" yelled Nathan before nonverbally cloaking them all with a powerful shielding spell, so that their past selves did not notice what had happened, only heard a voice. And then they all vanished, and the group flew forwards to where it had been moments ago, except that Ness, Lucas, and Claus were back.

"What happened?" asked Paula. Her look of loathing had vanished, to be replaced by one of deep gratitude.

"Well..." began Nathan. "I thought I saw someone behind us. When Ness and Lucas and Claus vanished, I realized that that someone was us. We had come to change the past, but been a tad too late. So I warped us back a bit further and fired a light beam, and since the past changed our past selves from about 30 seconds ago vanished to be replaced with us ourselves. Then, since Ness' father didn't die, and Lucas and Claus are his descendants from about 116 years in the future from now they vanished too, as did Hinawa's body and Alec in the Nowhere Islands. In fact, I think everything in the future changed drastically, but now that it's right again, it's back to normal."

He said all of this extremely quickly.

"It doesn't feel like any time passed at all," said Ness, frowning. Suddenly, Paula wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. His eyes bugged out a bit, and everyone laughed.

"So, where to now?" he asked, pretending that had not just happened.

"Well, I was thinking we should check out the situation with the Yannabi Ergo Ser," said Nathan. "We left Slater in those bushes, and I knocked him out before we came here."

They headed back outside, where, sure enough, Slater was in the bushes. Nathan revived him with a hasty spell and he glanced up, looking dazed.

"We're taking you back to headquarters," Nathan said sternly, like a mother to a small child. Ness supposed that because Slater was his brother, he still felt family ties.

* * *

"WHAT!"

Natalie looked stunned. Nathan grimaced.

"You...you caught him?" she asked, as though hardly daring to believe that the dazed guy on the table was actually Slater.

"Yep," said Nathan triumphantly. "The capture was excellent, but...we had some troubles with Rycoulth and Gygath." He finished the sentence in a hushed voice; some new recruits were looking eagerly over at him.

They were in the Headquarters of the Order of the Dragon, Eagleland Division (full name Divison Eagleland dimE). Behind them was the portal room that allowed Order members to travel between Order bases in any dimension or time; due to the large number of troubles the Order faced, it was often necessary for members to go to various locations on missions.

"We're gonna need to put him in the most secure cell we can manage," said a gruff voice. Chris.

"Yeah," agreed Nathan. "Best guards we can manage, I'll do the protective spells myself, if you don't mind, and...hmm...is there any chance of sparing some of those new weapons we've been developing? The special ones?"

Chris nodded. "I think the lab guys have got the formulas and ratios right. They'll be pleased that their inventions are going to a good cause. I'll go do that, then."

And he left.

"Brilliant," grinned Nathan. "Anyway...I'll be back later, gotta go set up a cell somewhere."

He left too.

Natalie laughed. "I gotta go do something too. I'll see you guys some other time."

After she left, Claus (who, being Lucas' brother and on their side, had been given the Order tattoo) spoke. "Wonder what she's gonna do?"

* * *

"Come look at this!" yelled Lucas. The rest of them rushed over to have a look.

The Order libraries were usually packed with new recruits trying to learn all they could about alien races, how to make effective contact with alien races if encountered, fighting tactics, and other essential skills. Others were attempting to learn magic; several people in the corner were studying, and the rest watched as one tried to create a hold-able fire and promptly incinerated the book. Another one, who was obviously more adept, restored it to its original state with a grimace.

It was a very ancient, tattered book that was lying in a vent near the ceiling.

A book of alien races.

Lucas had been reading the section about the Yannabi. So far, the information matched: the Yannabi were a peaceful, friendly race, but certain evil shamans from that planet were extremely hostile. And at first, nobody saw anything unusual.

And then, Paula spotted it with a gasp.

THEY'RE BEING INFECTED.

This was scrawled at the bottom of the page, across a word-translation section. It looked very recent.

Right under it was: THEY ARE ALL GOING TO DIE. MORE AND MORE WILL TURN TO DARK MAGIC TO TRY AND HEAL THEMSELVES AND BECOME CORRUPTED IN THE PROCESS. NOBODY KNOWS THEIR HOME PLANET. YOU WILL NEED TO FIND IT TO HEAL THEM.

This ominous prediction was viewed with silence.

"What are they being infected BY?" wondered Duster aloud, earning some odd looks from the next table (a group of recruits who were enchanting their pens to fight gladiator-style, and upgrading them with new attacks as they read books entitled "How to Give Yourself Additional Abilities").

"That's what I've been thinking about," said Lucas, his face set.

Just then, Nathan strode in through the door. "Done with the cell," he said to them, grinning; his grin faded when he saw the recruits looking around eagerly with him. The four with the gladiator pens stopped watching the dramatic battle (now featuring a pen upgraded with a pair of hydraulic saws versus a pen with a short-range flamethrower) to look at them.

"Brilliant," said Paula icily. "Now help us figure out what's going on here."

"Well, those guys are making their pens battle one another - excellent spellwork there, by the way - " the four grinned at each other " - and that guy keeps incinerating his book - no, no, you have to really focus on making it safe, not powerful, focus on power right before you throw it or something - and -"

"She was talking about this," mumbled Lucas, indicating his scrawly book.

"Did you write in that?" asked Nathan.

"No..." replied Lucas, looking fearful.

"I wouldn't care if you did," laughed Nathan, grinning again. "I don't care about these books, we can fix em in an instant...if you wanna write something on em, be my guest. Now, what's this about?" He read the message. "Oh. Oh my."

"What is it?" inquired Kumatora.

"This is bad." He looked up. "I don't know what they're being infected by, but if they're turning to Dark magic...that stuff will corrupt you like nothing else. You'll be killing by the next morning. Now, I'm sure I can heal 'em...but...find their home planet?"

"How hard could that be?" shrugged Ness nonchalantly.

"Harder than you think," warned Nathan. "Much, much harder. It took us years to compile the most modern edition." A shiny book flew across the room and into Nathan's outstretched hand. He flicked it open to the Yannabi page. "Home planet: ?" was typed into the Info panel.

As the book soared back to its shelf, Kumatora looked out at the sky. "Can't we send out radio waves?"

Nathan frowned. "That sounds like an idea. We could contact races we know and ask them if they know where the Yannabi are..."

And without another word, he was gone, presumably going to some sort of radio telescope.

Lynn walked into the library just as they were about to leave it.

"You guys seen Nathan?" she asked, with a concerned expression on her face.

"He just left," answered Ness. "Sorry."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No, but we have a general idea," said Duster.

"Something about contacting alien races to see where the Yannabi home planet is," said Kumatora loftily.

"Oh, okay. Thanks. He's probably at the Broadbander radio telescope," she said, walking away. She had her left hand over an area on her right front, right above the waistline, wincing occasionally.

"Wonder what's wrong with her?" said Lucas.

"It is of no concern, though I feel bad," said Poo calmly.

"It appears she is in severe discomfort," said Jeff quickly.

"What?" asked Lucas, not catching most of the sentence.

"Pain," Jeff replied coolly.

"Oh."

"I think we should find Nathan too," announced Ness. "We could help with something, it's boring sitting around waiting for him to finish...whatever it is."

"Good idea," agreed Paula.

* * *

"No."

"You won't tell us where the radio telescope is?"

"No."

"We're official Order members."

"No! That does not mean you have access to every part of the base!"

"We know Nathan personally."

"Prove it."

"Erm..."

"Thought I'd find you guys here," grinned Nathan. They had been arguing with the secretary, a woman of around 60, over directions to the radio telescope. "You dunno where the Broadbander is? Come on, I'll show you a bit of a shortcut to get there. Oh, and Lucille? In the future, they're quite high-ranking, and I DO know them personally," he added to the secretary, who looked completely confused by Nathan's sudden appearance.

They walked up 2 flights of stairs and into a room, where Nathan showed them the book in the shelf that had to be pulled on. The shelf spun sideways and allowed them passage into another passage before spinning back into place. Then they walked down that smaller hallway into another bookcase, on which he pulled a book and walked into another room. The passageway outside led right to a door labeled "Broadbander." He stepped inside, where Lynn was standing, about to leave.

"Ah, there you are," she said. "They told me you'd be here, and when I came here you weren't. I was hoping you weren't here yet - "

"I was," replied Nathan. "But I had to leave to get these guys."

"Yeah...well...I have a bit of a problem," she said uneasily, shifting side to side.

"What's that?"

In response, she lifted up her shirt slightly, revealing the spot where she had had her hand earlier.

While she was wearing an undershirt, a dark brown worm-looking creature was visible just under the skin, about an inch thick and 5 inches long. As they watched in horror, it wiggled once. She winced.

"How the - " Nathan swore loudly " - did that get there!"

"We ran into a YES about 3 weeks ago. While we were fighting it, it jabbed me with a syringe or something. The next week, I felt something kinda wiggly, and the second week I saw this. It's doubled in since since then. Fortunately for me, it only has one way to go through the flesh and it won't tunnel anything anymore, so...but the wiggling hurts," she added. Nathan's mechanical arm prodded it gently; it shuddered.

"...Syringe?" he wondered. Then he hit himself in the forehead with his non-mechanical arm. "Of course! It all makes sense."

"What?" asked Kumatora.

"Syringes are medical, correct?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he went on. "The YES are using their dark magic to get here and test their parasite they're being infected with on humans. It isn't authorized by their government - but they're doing it."

"So humans are being used as lab rats?" said Duster slowly.

"Precisely."

Lynn frowned and glanced at the signals Nathan had been sending out. Just then, a frantic beeping ensued from the central computer, and it printed a sheet of paper which Nathan read with excitement and then fed into another computer via a small device that functioned like the cash input slots in vending machines. Then, from the same slot, it printed the same sheet of paper out and Nathan flipped it over.

"...Nothing," he muttered. "Still waiting for a response there. In the meantime, let's take care of that worm thing." He turned back to Lynn. "We oughta get to the infirmary. C'mon."

The 11 of them walked out of the room and to an infirmary. The nurse gasped in horror when Lynn raised her shirt again and showed the parasite, which was completely stationary.

"Eugh," muttered Nathan. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Surgery," said the nurse firmly. "I'm not risking another magic thing, remember what happened to Connelly, Gladys?" she added to another nurse, who nodded vigorously as she tended to a patient who appeared to have a rosebush growing out of his hip.

"That was done by an amateur," said Nathan irritably.

"Even so - "

"Yes, you don't like magic, but we can try. Pessilens Nomiclata!"

Nothing happened, except that the worm came back out and looked at them from its original location.

"Cidovirilus!"

It shuddered violently and wiggled frantically, apparently suffering greatly. Lynn gave a small moan of pain, and Nathan hurriedly muttered another spell to stop it.

"Parasitovicis!"

The parasite was sheared in half. The halves began moving independently. Lynn groaned. "Now there are two!"

"Mycocitosis!"

A fungus burst out of both worms, and while the fungus (which vanished quickly) left them looking weak, they were still alive.

"Huh. We need to research a spell for it. And pronto. If we're gonna cure the Yannabi, we'll need help on researching a new spell to combat these things.

Lynn winced again. "How long am I gonna have these things!"

"I don't know," admitted Nathan.

"At the very least until the end of next chapter," said Ness.

Paula elbowed him hard in the ribs and he bent over in pain.

* * *

What with trying to find the Yannabi home planet, trying to research a new spell to combat the worm-parasite (Lynn was being used as a test subject, as she actually had the parasite), and keeping an eye on Slater, the group was kept very busy over the next few weeks, during which they stayed in or around the Order base.

Lucas spent nearly all of his time in the library, researching incantation theories, coming out only to eat. Paula and Kumatora spent a lot of time watching the radio telescope logs. Duster, Poo, and Ness spent their time guarding Slater and ensuring the refugees were safe along with the other guards, while Boney and Nathan tested spell after spell on Lynn, all created by Lucas.

So it was that one day, as the seasons changed further and December came, that Lucas was to be found reading about -cid spells.

"Hmm...'-cid is often used in spells that cause death, usually to an animal or insect.'" read Duster over Lucas' shoulder. "Sounds a bit violent."

"Duster!" gasped Lucas. "You scared me! ...Yep, I've been trying to find out what could happen to combat this parasite and save the Yannabi and ourselves.

He had not forgotten the eerie prediction of the mysterious writer - that the Yannabi would turn to Dark magic, and overthrow their planet in order to use humans for test subjects, and also because their corruptness would promote a liking of death.

"Let's see. 'Parasito-' refers to parasites. '-cid' is death. But that spell doesn't work...this thing is too resistant." He paused, biting a nail in thought. "Hmm. Maybe..."

He started scribbling frantically when, suddenly, an invisible hand wrote over his thoughts.

CHECK THE BODY.

Lucas jumped.

YCHEC KTHEB OD

DYCHEC KTHEB O

ODYCHECK THEB

BODYCHECK THE

EBODYC HEC KTH

The words scrambled out of control until:

TBEH BOCYDH CEK

"Check what body?" wondered Duster.

"Body...check..." muttered Lucas frantically. Then he froze. "THE BODY!" he cried, and rushed from the room to the lab.

Boney was asleep, curled up on a chair. Nathan appeared to have fallen off his chair and was slumped on the floor, snoring loudly.

"WAKE UP!" shouted Lucas.

"Wuzzah?" mumbled Nathan.

"UP!" roared Duster, having no idea why they should be woken but yelling nonetheless.

"What for!" exclaimed Nathan, looking around in worry. "Is something wrong with - ?"

"No time - we need to go to the Nowhere Islands, and NOW."

"Just us four?" said Nathan.

"Yes!" said Lucas dismissively. Nathan leapt up and conjured a portal, into which they leapt.

It was pouring rain in the Nowhere Islands. Flint was sitting in a chair under the awning in front of Lucas' house. He heard yelling from the direction of the village, but didn't bother listening properly; two men had been arguing almost daily for a week now over something stupid.

Meanwhile, the people who had actually been yelling were rushing off in the direction of the Sunshine Forest (which was not so sunshiny at the moment).

"Loonies," muttered one guy.

Lucas led the way, back to the secluded clearing where they had found George Burns' skull, and whipped out Scylla. "PK Burst!"

The ground exploded, revealing a mass of bones in the shape of a human body and several smaller, bluish bones that were still connected by fragments of sinew. These Nathan realized were the bones of a vertebrate parasite - he encased them in a plastic bag -

- and quite suddenly, they were back outside the Order base, they went in, ran into a diagnostics lab, and dumped the bones onto a table - right into the middle of half a dozen researchers, who looked rather astonished.

"How'd it die? How'd it die?" asked Nathan excitably. "Get Jeff down here!"

Duster sprinted off, his metal soles clanging along each step until he exited hearing range. A moment later, he came back with Jeff, looking rather out-of-breath.

"Scanning something?" asked Jeff calmly. He picked out a machine and lowered it over the bones, scanning it with an orange beam of light. "Judging from the fragmented surfaces of each bone...and the compacted molecules...I'd say this died by crushing."

"Crushing!" yelled Nathan. "Of course!" He smacked himself in the forehead and ran off shouting excitably.

"What is with him?" wondered Duster.

("He's excitable some days,") shrugged Boney.

Lucas suddenly gasped: he remembered Nathan yelling something at a YES, it was being crushed - he sprinted out of the room too, into the library, where he found Nathan.

"Craishe nervio parasiticida!" they cried out in synchronization, grinning at each other before sprinting into the radio telescope room where they found the three girls.

"LYNN! WE FOUND THE CURE!" yelled Nathan.

"WHAT!"

"YEAH!" shouted Lucas.

There was a great amount of cheering and clapping.

"Watch!" said Nathan. "CRAISHE NERVIO PARASITICIDA!"

Both worms went rigid, then convulsed, becoming smaller, until they were crushed to death and into oblivion.

Gone, just like that.

"Brilliant!" shrieked Lynn.

* * *

Meanwhile, 11 floors below them, in the deepest, darkest part of the Order base, an alarm sounded. Ness and Poo charged after Slater, he had escaped - how?

"PK Crescent!" shouted Ness, unleashing a wave of energy from Hydra.

"Rapa Etus!" yelled Slater desparately, the simplest of the speed spells.

"Not on my watch," grunted Ness. Focus, he told himself..."Rapa Etus!"

He shot off after Slater, but he was going to need more speed to get ahead...

Poo came up behind him, smiling. "Observe!" He put his hands on Ness' back and used PK Blast. Ness flew forwards, directly in front of Slater. Running backwards, he cried, "PK CRESCENT!"

Slater was thrown backwards into Poo, who blasted him with PK Freeze Gamma.

"Tempra Agilus!" he shouted, and shot forwards even faster than with using Rapa Etus, up a flight of stairs. Ness and Poo had no choice but to follow him with Rapa Etus, although they would never catch him.

Just then, they collided with a large bird.

"Flynn!" yelled Ness angrily.

"Relax!" laughed the eagle. "Here." He conjured a portal very quickly - a transpacial portal. "Go in! You'll be ahead of Slater - I've called a task force to help when he comes back this way or flips over you! He's cornered!"

Ness and Poo exchanged glances, then leapt into the portal, coming out of it just ahead of Slater, who stopped short. Footsteps echoed behind them - 10 highly trained Order members - Jack amongst them - were storming along the passage.

Slater turned to run as the 12 of them charged him. At that moment, Flynn and 11 task force members came up the stairs. Slater looked around at the advancing parties and said one word.

"Dephorium!"

There was a colossal explosion and Slater was cloaked in deep purple flame; as the 24 of them fell he leapt over the ones obstructing his path forwards. They got up and sped off after him. Another explosion rocked the floor above as a familiar figure came darting out of a side passage.

"Nathan!" cried Ness. He was followed by Duster, Kumatora, Paula, Jeff, Lucas, Boney, and King, not to mention Lynn and half a dozen other Order members, including Isaac.

Slater's eyes went wide, and he kept running.

"Is it okay if I wreck your B5F?" growled Kumatora.

"Be my guest," smirked Nathan.

"PK GROUND!"

The two floors up above them ruptured horribly; dirt and stones came tumbling down on them along with Slater, who hurriedly flapped two black, leathery wings sprouting from his back and shot upwards. Nathan, looking furious, followed on his own wings, which were a brownish crimson. His eyes were golden again, and as he whipped out Navenstrae and fired a single bolt, which was joined with bolts from Hydra and Scylla to form that crackling bolt again - it missed Slater by a mere inch and hit the ceiling far above them, which, being the floor of the floor above that, crumbled, pelting Nathan and Slater with more stones and dirt - and a familiar blue-grey wyvern.

"ARCTURUS!" shouted Nathan. "Brilliant!"

Arcturus gave a roar of acknowledgement and plummeted straight towards Slater. Knowing Slater was going to dodge, Nathan swerved to the side and nonverbally cast Rapa Etus, flying faster than Slater, who was unaware of this move as he dodged right into Nathan. Arcturus did a flip midair and soared right up as Nathan bound Slater in ropes, but the ropes turned into snakes which reared, preparing to sink their fangs into Nathan - but they crumbed to dust and Arcturus slammed right into Slater as he made his escape.

That's when things took a turn for the worse.

What looked like 50 YES were streaming in through the walls, diving right at them. Slater, though highly dazed from Arcturus' blow, waved a fresh ruby S at Nathan, smirking evilly. Far below, Kumatora and Paula launched twin PK Fires, and Jeff set off a Multi Bottle Rocket, resulting in about 20 YES dying or being knocked out. Several PK Freezes and a PK Crescent were followed by a bright light emnating from Hydra and Scylla -

A golden tornado and a silver tornado erupted from the ends of the respective-coloured blades, merging into a whirl of energy and silver and gold fire. As this happened, twice as many YES as the first wave burst through the walls, surging amongst the masses of people. As the tornado whirled of its own accord, Hydra and Scylla stopped glowing and permitted Ness and Lucas to use them for battle amongst the 30 or so on the ground. Meanwhile, the tornado and Arcturus were taking out YES that were still in the air. And fifty feet above that, Nathan and Slater were still dueling.

"Give - it - up!" roared Nathan between lightning-fast beams of green energy from Navenstrae, the orb of which was glowing brightly...

Acting again of its own accord, the fantastic weapon released two spheres of energy which slowly moved out a few feet; Nathan bound Slater in chains, so that he was hovering with his wings but unable to aim his spells.

The spheres touched gently and a massive, twisting, pulsing, dual beam of energy shot through the air. Far below, the battlers paused to watch, and the tornado dropped to ground, sucking up and decimating unwary YES.

Slater was thrown through a window into a room. Suddenly, as the chains had gone, he realized what he could do with the ruby S and tossed it onto the floor before teleporting out.

"NO!" shouted Nathan, even as white flame erupted around the ruby S and shattered it. Everyone else saw the flash and looked around, horrorstruck; the YES used this to their advantage and seized several people, prompting Ness and Lucas to sever some limbs.

150 YES had been defeated that day, but even a million wouldn't have made up for the dramatic escape that Slater had made, and even the crippling wounds he now had could be healed, if slowly.

Nathan had locked himself in his office and refused to leave for 3 days. Lucas was now spending hours with Kumatora and Duster poring over the Broadbander's numerous logs. Paula looked depressed, while Ness refused to speak to anyone if it was not important. Boney and King were spending hours cooped up in the Nursery with the baby wyverns, who were wondering why two dogs were lying in open, cushioned cages but not sleeping or leaving.

Slater's escape had created a general bad mood amongst the Order members who were there, but then Nathan had a thought.

History never repeats, he said to himself. If we catch Slater again...he won't escape.

Not this time.

* * *

I go out my way to make you sick. That parasite is gonna make a comeback, trust me...with the Yannabi themselves. And it's not gonna be pretty. Also, I've been having some violent thoughts lately, so how better to express them than through a nasty giant worm that eats your guts?

Anyway.

How did you like the chapter? I write action scenes very, very quickly. They pour out of me like water out of a faucet or something.

Not good with analogies.

Anyway, review if you liked it! Or if you enjoyed it. Or something.

Also, in case I never said anything earlier (I was re-reading a few earlier chapters and noticed I said that I didn't like LucasxKumatora but never gave any indication as to why...), Lucas is 12. Kumatora is 17. Y U NO MAKE CONNECTION?

Only a few people ever wrote a pairing that made more sense :\

I think it was a story that had the word Feather in the title, and one called "Oh, Mother." Which I never actually properly read, just skimmed because the topic was of mild interest.

Anyway.

Not many more notes, except that I finished this chapter on the same day as Chapter 9. :D

Next Chapter: Marron Romperi


	11. Marron Romperi

Chapter 11: Marron Romperi

The story so far:

After returning to school, Ness recieved a call from Jeff that Dr. Andonuts had turned up at the gates of Snow Wood.

Ness, Lucas, Nathan, and co. unearthed the secret of George Burns' murder and battled the Vermillion Bullet.

Claus reappeared as Lucas dueled a butcher who turned out to be Maria in disguise.

The brown beasts were revealed to be the same ones that had appeared in the jungle back in Rise of the Escaryuba.

Some more stuff (if you really care, go reread the earlier chapters, because I forgot.)

And more recently...

They dove into the heart of the mountain in Podunk, which was revealed to be an active volcano under which Slater was hiding, defended by a strange, rocky lizard. Afterwards, the volcano erupted, causing a devastating pyroclastic flow which totaled Podunk. They escaped into Eagleland, 2 years before Ness' birth, and fought off Rycoulth and Gygath, and after a time-travel paradox, managed to stop Ness, Lucas, and Claus vanishing permanently. They removed Slater to the Order base.

Lynn was revealed to be infected with an odd parasite - a lab rat for the YES. The group spent a lot of time doing various tasks and researching a cure after finding a message written by an unknown hand in a VERY old book. Then Slater escaped, allowing 150 YES to invade the base before the ruby S shattered. And now...

...nobody knows.

Also, Dark magic is not the same as Harry Potter Dark magic. I've read and re-read Order of the Phoenix (which the Order of the Dragon is NOT based off of, I completely forgot that book existed until about a fortnight ago, then facepalmed repeatedly. It is named so because Nathan's father, who created it, is a dragon, and many of the members ride wyverns. Also, I am eating a bagel as I am writing this). It's not the same, Dark magic here is a bit more complex and nasty and permanently disfiguring.

Meanwhile in Japan...

THE SWIMMING BEARD KNOWS

(Taken from , I think it was a notice about swimming rules at a pool.)

Read and review!

* * *

Nathan scowled. He was NOT happy.

After Slater escaped, he had been locked in his office, which felt more like a cabin in the mountains lined with odd instruments from various places.

But now...something unusual was stirring outside the protected city. He was glad Slater did not know where the base in which he was held prisoner was, or he might have returned and killed the citizens...he wouldn't have stood a chance against the Order itself, even with YES, but an innocent death is the worst kind of death.

I'm not exactly innocent, though, he thought savagely. Then, aloud: "I've caused physical harm to quite a few entities, and certainly killed a few."

He was, of course, referencing to the many corrupt, evil entities he had battled. Also, not one of them avoided killing an Escaryuba during their last adventure, and already about 200 YES had been killed, counting the ones a few nights ago and the ones that attacked the village last time a ruby S was present. He wasn't sure how many more there were.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. He bounded across the room and opened it, and was surprised to see Duster and Kumatora standing there.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, we were patrolling the area, looking for signs of anything odd going on, we had a couple Order members with us..." began Kumatora.

"...and we saw these...ehm...well, they were large and brown, kinda like bulls, but bigger and shaggier. More hair. And dark brownish-orange horns, and glowing yellow eyes," finished Duster.

"They weren't glowing," growled Kumatora. Then she frowned. "But I won't deny they were yellow."

Nathan frowned. "That sounds familiar...something from a report last year about monsters in the jungle on a southern island..."

"Hey! It's those beasts again!" yelled a voice from the doorway; they heard sneakers skidding along the floor and saw Ness standing there, looking frantic. His dark jeans were stained with mud and the white shirt he wore underneath the black one was green with grass stains. He also looked rather wet. They supposed he had been outside.

Hair hanging limply around his eyes, he gasped, "I don't know where they came from, but I found something you might find interesting."

He held out a familiar (but unwanted) shape and Nathan gasped as Paula came skidding around the corner as well, followed by Lucas and Jeff.

"It's that S again," said Paula, whose pink dress was about as muddy as Ness' clothes. Her hair was rather matted and damp, leading Nathan to believe the four had joined a patrol. He didn't mind; they needed the security.

Quick as a flash, Nathan shattered the S with a streak of white fire.

"We need to find out where this came from. Slater doesn't - " began Nathan, but Duster threw out a hand.

"Slater does know," he said quietly. "The YES. They know where it is, they could have told him! Don't you see? Until we can set up a counterspell for this, we're completely defenceless!"

Nathan froze, then slowly nodded. "Yes, of course...I'll go see what I can do. If you need me, I'll be in the library."

And he ran off.

* * *

"Inventing new spells is tedious..." muttered Lucas. "Every combination does something if you can use magic. Thing is, most of the ones I invented for that worm thing just made things flop around a bit...got Boney to test one on an earthworm and it turned bright yellow."

Ness snorted with laughter.

("Yeah, it happened,") woofed Boney in agreement, nodding feverishly. ("Watch...xanthotropa!")

The bookcase he was aiming at shuddered and turned yellow.

"Another one...we were trying to turn them into air...it was 'aerotropa parasitica'?"

Boney nodded. ("That one didn't work either. Watch.") He turned to the bookcase, where a tick was crawling slowly along the spine of a book. ("Aerotropa parasitica!")

The tick let out a great whoosh of air and fell off the bookcase, unconscious but not dead. Boney growled a spell and the tick was burnt into a pile of ashes.

"And the third spell," said Lucas, starting to laugh, "was this...see, we mixed up 'bacter-', which is bacterium, with 'bactr-', which is a stick or a club...we intended to destroy it with a bacterial infection only harmful to it...it was 'hemobactrn.'"

Boney conjured a mouse, and before it could get away he barked. ("Hemobactrn!")

The mouse convulsed and coughed up a load of twigs onto the floor before it was vanished by Boney, who also burnt the twigs away.

"The fourth spell was a bit sickening - "

Just then, Jack came sprinting up the hallway.

"We've got a situation!" he yelled. "They can't get into the base, but the townspeople are in danger!"

A young-looking red wyvern came streaking down the hallway. Jack performed a backflip and landed on its back, and they shot down a side passage, into a main hallway, and they head him yell the same message he had just told them.

"C'mon," grunted Duster, and he charged off down the hallway, metal soles clanking with every step.

They followed him outside, where a terrible scene met their eyes: no fewer than 300 Yannabi Ergo Ser were rampaging through the town, destroying everything in sight.

At their head, a YES wearing some sort of shamanic headband ("They are shamans," reasoned Lucas) brandished yet another ruby S at everything, although its job was already done.

"Come on!" roared Chris, shooting by on his massive grey wyvern and mowing down several YES with a large pike. On their right, Arcturus burst out of a clump of trees, spewing fire and armored with what appeared to be an enchanted set of cobalt armour ("Not too good to make armour out of," grimaced Jeff, "but with magic..."), specially crafted for a wyvern of his size. Someone leaped over them and launched something resembling a spear on a chain at a YES; upon impact the YES convulsed and then collapsed.

King acted first. Taking a few quick paces forwards, he pushed his chest out and howled ("PK SILVER!")

Immediately, a wave of silvery energy washed over them; they themselves were not affected, but YES were writhing madly and being thrown sky-high. Kumatora took advantage of their height and tried PK Thunder. Poo and Paula followed suit, and around 12 were taken out by this manuever.

Just then, they saw Jack's red wyvern, clad in what looked like (and Jeff wasn't quite sure) enchanted magnesium which had been lit on fire. He was streaking along behind Arcturus, tailing whitish flame. Riding Arcturus was Nathan, who was more surfing than riding. As they watched, he shot straight up into the air and came plummeting down, Navenstrae blazing with a green flame.

Their vision was obscured momentarily as they were thrown to the ground by something that felt like a forcefield suddenly blaring into existence and expanding rapidly, and dirt flew everywhere. As they got up, the attacker was revealed to be Slater.

"PK Crescent!" yelled Ness, waving Hydra wildly, crying the first thing that came into his head. Slater dodged the bolt of energy and cackled menacingly.

"Oh, you'll never get me," he crowed as he sidestepped, turned, and unleashed several hellhounds from nowhere.

"PK Freeze!" yelled Paula, Poo, and Kumatora simultaneously. Three of the hellhounds crumpled, but the other 4 surged forwards -

In one fluid motion, Duster leapt up, kicked the outermost two in the heads, then clapped his heels together, knocking the heads of the second two together before flinging three Wall Staples at Slater, who jumped in surprise as they crashed into him, the ends bending together to form three binding steel rings. As he took a step back and prepared to escape to another location by teleporting, something large and heavy slammed into his back and threw him forwards, right into Paula, who topped over backwards, flailing comically.

"Duster, are you a ninja or something!" yelled Ness from where he stood fighting three Yannabi at once.

"Arcturus!" gasped Kumatora, indicating the wyvern that had slammed into Slater.

The blue-grey wyvern nodded, cobalt armour glinting dangerously.

"They're retreating!" called Jack, still astride that red wyvern in its flaming magnesium armour. It blasted fire, which incinerated everything in its path. Lucas suddenly understood what Nathan had meant that day months ago when he had said that red wyverns breathed the hottest flame...it wasn't just a few degrees, it was about two thousand!

Just then, another unexpected event occurred as a YES charged forwards out of nowhere, evading several Order members, and grabbed Slater. It wrenched the Wall Staples off of him and he managed to twist around. A flash of light, and -

"Not again!" growled Nathan as he struck the wildy fleeing YES in the small of the back with a bolt from Navenstrae and it crumpled. "Ugh!"

He shook his head, as if to clear it. Seaweed-green hair whipped back and forth.

Duster voiced something he had been wanting to ask for a long time.

"Why do you have green hair?"

Nathan surveyed him almost comically, then grinned. "So I can say, 'Screw the rules! I have green hair!'"

There was a momentary silence, then everyone burst out laughing despite the bloodstains on the shattered flagstones under their feet. Ness suddenly noticed an inscription on one of the flagstones.

A crescent moon, with two parallel arrows through the center.

"What's that?" he asked, wiping away the blood pooling in the incription.

"Lemme see," said Nathan. After studying it for a moment, all he could manage was "Huh."

"What?" demanded Kumatora impatiently.

"I don't know," admitted Nathan, straightening up.

"That inscription makes me think of Osohe," said Lucas offhandedly.

"Osohe?" muttered Nathan, more to himself than anyone.

"I don't remember seeing ANYTHING like that," said Kumatora. She turned to Duster.

"Me neither, not even on that ancient vase Wess smashed."

Boney frowned as best as a dog could. ("It makes me think of Osohe too. Nathan, remember that one time we were in Osohe?")

"We were in Osohe lots of times," replied Nathan dismissively.

("I know, but...")

"...No, I don't remember. It's okay, we can check next time," he reassured the dog. "Next lesson was supposed to be stronger offensive spells to help us in this battle we're all caught up in now."

Boney nodded, tail wagging, and Paula cleared her throat. Everyone looked around expectantly. "Shouldn't we at least have a look around here for another inscription like it?" she suggested.

Nathan's eyes flashed from crimson to grey again and he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think we should. C'mon. We can give it a shot."

* * *

Ness and Jeff examined the stone archway carefully. Nothing was present that even suggested an inscription had once been there, pardoning the faded writing at the top of the archway that, after decades of weathering, read "Welc to du k."

"Nothing!" puffed Ness furiously. "Nothing at all!"

"Relax," said Jeff. He surveyed Ness through his glasses, then grinned. "We've only examined this archway!"

Ness's glare faltered, then he grinned weakly. "Yeah, I guess so."

Paula and Lucas came over. They, too, looked frustrated. Jeff repeated his advice, and they, too, calmed down. Girls, he thought. So moody sometimes. Ness stood up and put his arm around Paula, and the pair of them looked down at Lucas and Jeff, who had once hated each other.

"Nice to see you two not arguing," said Ness good-naturedly.

"We haven't argued since that time in Threed when I went storming off," retorted Jeff. "Like a fool," he added, staring critically down at his knees as if they had done him some great wrong.

Lucas laughed. "Like a fool." Jeff did not argue the matter; he was in full agreement.

They hadn't sat down together and had a talk like this for ages. After a bit, since they were all done investigating their places, they had sat down on the inside of the archway, where, after a period of silence, Ness and Paula had started kissing, and Jeff and Lucas exchanged amused glances before looking away pointedly. They did not have to bear it for long, as footsteps signaled the arrival of a rather disheveled-looking Duster, followed closely by Kumatora. For once, she seemed to feel bad for Duster, which got Lucas thinking for just a brief moment...

"Bats," he growled miserably before throwing himself rather uncermoniously onto the ground next to Lucas.

"Hey, you didn't scream like a moron like I would have," consoled Kumatora. Then, to the group: "He handled it pretty well, didn't make any sound, just started whirling like a tornado and kicking them out of the air. Then the Siren Beetle crawled out of the Mystical Thief Tool bag, buzzed to warn me to cover my ears (it's actually a pretty courteous beetle), and started shrieking like mad, all the bats were stunned and we got out of there. But not before we searched the place," she added, as if to verify they had not slacked due to bats.

They sat in silence for a while, then -

"AIEE!"

A woman screamed. The six of them leapt up and sprinted towards the noise. Eight brown beasts ("Marron Romperi!" roared Jeff) were bashing into someone's wall. The woman who had screamed was right overhead, screaming loudly.

"PK Burst!" shouted Lucas, drawing Scylla. Ness whipped out his bat out of old habit and cracked one beast right on the skull. The force was such that the reinforced bat showed signs of cracking, but did not, and the beast toppled. Meanwhile, Lucas' yell had alerted the remaining beasts as the one hit by PK Burst jumped up, wounded. Together, Ness and Lucas drove their blades blindly into the charging foe. Two spurts of blood, and Kumatora shouted "PK Freeze!"

As the beasts recovered themselves, the three fallen beasts lay still on the ground and one more was thrown through the air by PK Freeze. One PK Fire later, and the remaining four were running around wildly, on fire. The fire died out quickly, but they stood still and prepared for a charge. Jeff launched a Multi Bottle Rocket, forcing them to scatter and regroup so that the group had a beast to their front, left, right, and behind. The bottle rockets changed course, slamming into the beast behind them. Duster leapt onto one's back and spurred it into a second, knocking them unconscious.

The final beast turned to run, but crashed right into a heavy brick wall and was promptly knocked out. Several Order members rushed towards them. holding what appeared to be energy swords. Was this the "new technology" Nathan had referred to?

"What happened here?" one demanded, brandishing his weapon. Ness noticed that the Order tattoo on his hand appeared fresh. "Are you Order members?"

He held up his sword.

"Desmond!" hissed someone Ness recognized with a surge of relief as Jack. "They're higher-ranking then you are...lower your weapon!"

The guy named Desmond's eyes widened, as if he realized who they were, and he quickly lowered his sword.

"Marron Romperi," said Jeff simply. "Ask Nathan about it."

"Marron Romperi?" echoed Jack. "Oh. Those brown beasts." The tattoo on his hand glowed slightly brighter, and for the first time they heard him comminicating via tattoo...

["We've been assaulted by Marron Romperi! Search the perimeters! Find the ruby S! Lab technicians! Help us find a counterspell!"]

* * *

Meanwhile, Nathan, Boney, King, and Poo were engaged in a terrible battle.

The Alpha Starman, as it referred to itself, was cobalt in colour. Poo lashed out with the Sword of Kings, but to no avail: its reflexes were as fast as his, and it snatched away the weapon. Nathan came charging up, followed by King and Boney. Boney was under the influence of the Fire-Cloak spell, which caused him to be encased in fire. King was glowing silver with PSI energy, Poo joined the charge powered by the energy behind PSI Starstorm, and Nathan's eyes were white fire, and he was crackling with greenish electricity -

- a massive explosion shook the earth for miles; citizens of Onett, Twoson, Threed, and Fourside braced themselves for aftershocks of what they thought to be an earthquake.

Nathan lay on the ground, panting, bemused by whatever they had just done, and moreover, what _he_ had just done. Next to him was Boney, and crouched on one knee a few meters away was Poo. On Nathan's left side was King.

The Alpha Starman seemed fatally damaged from this attack, and it crumpled, cracked straight through. Another brief explosion, but they were guarded by a PSI Shield.

Nathan stood up and brushed himself off. "Well!" he said to Boney. "That was a very effective usage of the Fire-Cloak spell!" He grinned. Boney staggered to his paws and managed to shake himself; Nathan conjured two bowls of water and the pair of dogs lapped it up eagerly. After they had all sufficiently recovered themselves, Nathan crushed the ruby S that the Starman had been carrying. As several Order members, the same group that had found Ness, Lucas, Paula, Jeff, Kumatora, and Duster, arrived, Nathan explained the situation.

"So the Starmen are ganging up with Slater now?" asked Lucas uncertainly. An anguished roar sounded from behind them: the surviving three Marron Romperi had been imprisoned in cells within the walls guarded by a forcefield. They had been trying to bash through it for several hours now.

"Yep," growled Nathan. "Slater Castiel, you..."

He suddenly looked up, as if he had said something profane.

"What did you say?" asked Ness.

"Nothing, nothing..." he muttered, as if shaking it off.

"Your last name is Castiel?" wondered Ness (Slater was his brother, they would have the same name). "Huh."

"Laugh, fine," snapped Nathan.

"No, it's a cool last name!" grinned Ness truthfully. Then he scowled. "I hate my last name."

"What's yours?" asked Paula curiously.

Ness hesitated. "I don't know," he admitted.

Everyone laughed.

Unnoticed, a man of about 20 years had strode up to them. Duster looked up and then elbowed Nathan in the ribs. Nathan glanced up.

"Eh? Oh, hey! Sirius!" grinned Nathan. The man called Sirius grinned back.

"Hallo," he said modestly, still grinning.

"Oh! Guys, this is Sirius MacAllister," explained Nathan hurriedly. "My father's friend's son...we sort of grew up together, along with Isaac...I wonder where Isaac is?" he added as an afterthought.

"Isaac?" said Ness. Then he remembered: Lynn's brother, with identical dark blue hair, almost black, and the golden orb on the end of his staff, and teleporting Ness into the Nowhere Islands. "Last time I saw him, he was heading back into the time period between the 90's, the early 2000's, et cetera, and the Nowhere Islands."

Nathan nodded. "Nothing happened there. He was trying to figure out the cause of the apocalyptic event that destroyed Eagleland, but...nothing but zombies. No record of anything. He saw all your houses and possessions - ruined. You were all dead and gone, mind, or else still alive but in a camp. Let's see...you guys from Eagleland all die like right before this happens. In 2065," he added. "This thing happens in 2075."

"There was about a 20-year period in between the founding of the Nowhere Islands - only uninhabited island chain left in the world. There were refugee camps everywhere...what a disaster," said Sirius. "Everyone was constantly feuding. People got sick. Some camps had one single zombie get in that destroyed the whole camp because they kept on multiplying. Awful...and I was there for a mission once. Killed about a thousand zombies, mind, and I'm pretty sure I saw your grandfather there, Lucas. And your parents, Kumatora. I saved their camp." He grinned at Lucas and Kumatora, who looked dumbstruck.

"You met my parents?" said Kumatora.

"Yep."

"Unbelievable...what were they like?"

"Nice couple. Honest, kind, sincere...died on the boat to the islands. Such a shame...I'm sure you already know that." She nodded.

"And Alec?" grinned Lucas, slightly thrilled, as are most children (even as teenagers), by saying the real name of a parent or grandparent.

"He was young and headstrong. That's partially what got the camp into trouble in the first place," recalled Sirius. "He was off killing zombies with all these old weapons, and things he'd pieced together himself - he called 'em 'kludges.'"

Lucas laughed.

Suddenly, Lynn approached.

"Situation. Dalaam. Hurry," she urged Nathan, Sirius, and the others before running off to (presumably) find her wyvern.

"Dalaam?" said Poo, perking up. Ness nodded and ran outside. The rest followed.

"PSI Teleport!"

And they whirled away.

* * *

"Oh...oh no..." muttered Paula. "This is awful!"

Jeff nodded, narrowing his eyes and surveying the wrecked land. "Whoever did this must be unimaginably cruel..." he growled, through gritted teeth.

Just then a piece of paper drifted down. Ness caught it.

"A little gift from your cosmic friends," he read aloud. Then his blood turned to ice.

"Cosmic friends?" stammered Jeff.

At the bottom of the paper were written three letters: G G R

"Two Gs and an R?" wondered Lucas.

"Who do we know what has those initials?" muttered Duster, more to himself.

Nathan frowned, attempting to discern the true nature of their cosmic "friends," if you could put it that way...

"G G R..." he kept mumbling to himself.

Just then, Poo let out a shout of alarm. Ness and Duster whirled; three tall, dark, hooded figures in robes of deep purple swept ominously towards them.

"Greetings, sirs," said the first. "You wouldn't happen to know who did this, would you?"

Nathan shook his head, turning to face them. As he did so, the Order tattoo on the back of his hand seared with blinding pain and he turned his face away, teeth clenched in surprise and slight rage.

"No..." he spluttered, looking resolutely at nothing.

Ness looked up at one of the figures, and experienced the same searing pain. He noticed it stiffen and slightly raise a finger to indicate the Order tattoo.

"Right then," said the third in the group. "Thank you for your time..."

And they departed.

Sirius, who hadn't spoken the whole time, suddenly cleared his throat, causing Kumatora to jump in alarm. Nathan eyed him warily. "Did anyone else feel that?" inquired Sirius of the group, to general nodding.

"Those people...they weren't entirely...ordinary, were they?" asked Paula.

"I don't think so," growled Nathan. "But I've never seen anyone like them."

"Nutters?" suggested Duster helpfully.

"Duster..." Lucas shook his head patiently. "A nutter wouldn't have caused the Order symbol to hurt..."

Duster nodded thoughtfully. "Ah. Yes. That."

"Maybe one of the locals can tell us what happened," said Ness, crouched by a pile of rubble. He held up a scrap of paper with one word on it: love. "Aww."

"What's that?" asked Poo suddenly. Ness, startled, leapt up, looking like a rather large raven as his black button-up shirt fluttered wildly in the intense gale, exposing the green T-shirt underneath. Watching him standing on the edge of a cliff, Nathan felt a sudden jolt of respect. Maybe, after all, he had grown to admire Ness slightly, in the same way that Ness admired him.

Well, now we're equal, thought Nathan, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his face. He knew in some ways that Ness had far more power than him, and in some he had far more than Ness, and there were other things too, but these did not cross his mind.

But...who were G, G, and R?

Just then Duster swore loudly, startling Nathan out of his thoughts.

"Gygath and Rycoulth have to be two of them, right? It's obvious!" he was shouting. "But who's the third G?"

Ness stiffened and a bead of sweat rolled down the tip of his nose. Cold sweat.

"Giygas," he said in a muffled sort of voice. The name had become a curse of sorts.

Paula frowned. "Giygas? That can't be. He doesn't even exist anymore."

"The First Law of Matter," piped up Jeff, "states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed."

"At the very least he was forced into some other wild dimension," reasoned Nathan, "but I wouldn't put it past Rycoulth to help Gygath by bringing back his brother, troubled though the partnership between those two may be...after all, they share a common goal, and if bringing Giygas back would help accomplish it..." He left the sentence hanging.

King shook, scattering bits of debris over them. ("Think logically,") woofed the dog. ("Gygath and Rycoulth wouldn't waste their powers destroying this place themselves, they'd get exhausted and the government would KNOW something is up. Instead, they send out minions to do their dirty work...")

Just then, a rabbit hopped aimlessly past them. Without really thinking, King lunged for it, dealing a death blow to the neck and flinging its body over the cliff. Then he came up with a reason for it. ("Remember the rabbit infestation?")

"Yeah...how'd it get out?" wondered Ness, peering over the edge of the jagged cliff and observing the white dot still falling.

"I dunno..." said Duster fearfully.

"We'll find out," stated Kumatora, who hadn't had time to get a word in edgewise and startled most of them. "Come on." She marched resolutely towards the old cave, and Nathan followed. Ness and Lucas were next, and then the rest.

What they found was not pretty.

The barricade keeping the rabbits inside was completely obliterated, as if by some massive shock. Dead rabbits littered the ground, and live ones huddled fearfully inside of a tiny cavity in the wall, shaking and refusing to move an inch despite their clear freedom.

There's no escape from the horrors that live inside of this cave, their tiny black eyes seemed to say. Flee now, while you can.

Ness stared hard at a white rabbit with a black spot on one side. Then, unexpectedly, he scooped it up. "There's something odd about this rabbit," he said.

"Yeah, it's got a black spot," drawled Jeff.

"Don't be a git, I'm talking...I get a...a sense from it. And look at those eyes!" he added, looking at them. Instead of a rabbit's normal black, the eyes were a light amber colour.

Paula snorted. "It's a rabbit, Ness," she said dismissively.

"Yeah, well, I'm keeping it," he shot back, and unceremoniously stuffed it into his pack.

"Animal cruelty," grumbled Lucas.

"What do you want me to do, let it follow me and get eaten?"

They headed through an archway. Not much significance.

"Alright," said Nathan, turning to face them all. "Since you all came in here, I guess we're in agreement whatever smashed the town came in here. Correct?"

A general nodding, and he was talking again. "So, mission. We gotta find out what's in here. Follow me."

He turned to the next chamber of the cave, where it was pitch-black. As they reached the other side, a bright silver light erupted from several meters ahead.

And illuminated by it, no - generating it, they saw something abhorrent and unholy, something they thought they'd never see again.

* * *

Bam. First chapter in a damn month, you'd think I'd be more diligent about this. Unfortunately, I have been unable to write for the entirety of October and amused myself by learning the guitar better than I already knew it. I am now at least as good as Jimi Hendrix. (No, nobody will EVER be that good again. I'm a rhythm guitarist anyway, and that was an exaggeration. But I'm okay. Not bad, not good either.)

VIVA LA VIDA!

I'm somewhat excited, though my boring drone suggests the opposite. BORING.

Also, that's the name of my favorite song. And Nathan's last name is Castiel.

At the time of writing, which is November 3rd, 2011, at 5:37 PM Eastern Time, I'm somewhat distracted by the season 7 premiere of Bones. That show is great. I missed the ending of season 6, but I get what happened. O.O

Anyway, enough talking about my favorite stuff.

Time to go write What's the Menu. I wrote quite a bit of that but never uploaded for some reason.

A-Lord-Over-Birds...and pie. Much pie. And maybe some stray dogs.


	12. Forgotten Nightmares

Chapter 12: Forgotten Nightmares

Forgotten Nightmares features a palace, a rather tense romantic scene, and is hellish enough to warrant fears in anyone...anyone foolish enough to believe it exists.

*hides under his desk*

Or maybe not, I dunno. Let's find out what it is as I write the way I've been writing since the start of Rise of the Escaryuba...making it up as I go along! (I really do this, except for some parts like Sirius showing up, the Lesbourne thing in Chapter 13 of RotE, etc. Call me unprofessional if you want, I think it's brilliant sometimes. Other times I will say that I thought it was bad.)

Read the endnotes for an interesting thought I had. It involves a complete redesigning of the internet.

Read and REVIEW! In all honesty, I hate seeing "You have 236 hits" then checking my email to find: "So-and-so favorited your story. And that's it, don't get your hopes up, you great prat." (cue furious punching of the creator of Gmail...and then yelling at my pet for eating my chair...)

If anyone has ever played Amnesia, they will know what I am basing part of this chapter off of. That game scared the #$% out of me the first time I played it - it was me and my 16-year-old cousin in the dark, in his room, at night. Afterwards, we jumped at small noises and hummed Tiptoe Through The Tulips.

Actually, nix that last part. I did not hum that song. I do not like it, because Tiny Tim has a high-pitched voice and a ukelele, leading to more fright than playing Amnesia...and getting eaten by a zombie or something.

And in case you forgot, review. I'm a fat lazy son-of-a-non-marital-arrangement and want reviewzorrz.

* * *

King leapt back, snarling and aglow with silver energy. It matched that of the terrifying foe's, but the foe's was charged with malevolent hatred, whereas King's was full of benevolent fury towards the evil. Nathan, meanwhile, shouted "Flagrantis!" and several firey snakes twisted from his outstretched palm to wrap themselves around the enemy.

Who was the enemy?

"What" might have been better.

A twisted, demonic fiend with two intertwined bodies and heads, connected somehow. Ness knew what it was; he called it Thunder and Lightning, for that is what they seemed to embody.

"This is MY sanctuary! MINE!" it hissed, flailing wildly against the firey snakes.

"The Sanctuary quest is over!" bellowed Ness. "Move out of the way!"

"Nooo!" shrieked the demons; even though only one head at a time talked, it was as if two voices spoke.

"Yes!" countered Duster. "Move it!"

"Silence, mortal!" The demons seemed to sense that Duster had no powers. He faltered, then became angry. Nathan held up one hand to silence him.

"You will let us pass!" commanded Sirius from the shadows.

"NOOO!" shrieked the demon, louder than before. "MINE! ALL MINE!" It let out a hellish stream of gibberish before twisting wildly and unleashing a stream of electric energy at Duster. (In past times, this was a Crash Bang Boom, but it had been replaced by a nameless power.) Quickly, he allowed the metal soles of his shoes to absorb the electric beam. The rubber inside prevented electrocution, and he stood there, glaring.

And then, in that single moment, all collapsed as Duster launched a torpedo kick at the beast. There was a crackling noise and the beast convulsed, as if struck by lightning. It retaliated by splitting the cave roof above them, and a downpour came streaming in. The floor puddled with water.

"DUSTER! YOUR SHOES ARE ELECTRIFIED!" screamed Kumatora. "GET AWAY FROM THE WATER!"

"Wait!" hissed Nathan. "That was magic, was it not? I want to test something out! Duster! Close your eyes and do as I say!"

"Right!" shouted Duster, leaping onto a ledge to prevent the water touching him.

"Eyes closed? Good. Try thinking about what caused this electric power!"

Duster obeyed, concentrating hard on that beam of electricity.

"Thinking hard? Okay...Ąrquĩs Яæơn!"

There was a colossal burst of energy, and when the flash of it faded they saw Duster enveloped in a shining light, volleys of energy whirling about him. The demon let out a hiss of protest, and then all was quiet. Duster opened his eyes. "What was that?" he asked.

Nathan grinned. "Ancient magic. That certain spell requires one to have the energy of a foe's attack coursing through them...Duster, think about electricity, and focus soley on it."

Duster obeyed, and there was a sudden crackling from his boots: they were re-electrified.

"Wow..." he said softly. The demon tried to re-engage them in battle at that moment, and there was no time for speculation over how Duster had done that. Instead, Ness tried PK Rockin' Ç, and the creature was quickly destroyed. They proceeded to enter the archway the demon had guarded.

Ness' first thought was "Holy," but I can't write the other word down as I might get some complaints.

They had stepped into what resembled an ancient stone chamber, illuminated by brilliantly lit candles.

"That's odd..." said Duster. "Why couldn't we see this before...?"

"Because it's not as it appears," said Nathan grimly, his jaw set. He took a step forward - crunch - and looked back at them.

"The floor just...crunched..." said Paula.

"Indeed it did," said Sirius. "Why? Because...Rævolle!"

The last word sounded foolish, but the room immediately went dark. Moments later, there was a brilliantly shining orb of light hanging in the air in front of them.

"Now, see what's beneath you!"

Paula looked down and let out a scream. Ness' eyes narrowed, King yelped, and Jeff gasped.

The floor was carpeted in bones. Human bones, it seemed, but then they realized that only about half were human: the rest were recently slain rabbits.

Even worse, some of the bodies were recent. They recognized a man who had greeted them when the village was overrun by rabbits.

Ness scowled. This wasn't looking too good for them. After all, they could easily become those bodies, he thought savagely.

Just then, Sirius jolted.

"I have to go. Now. Something extremely urgent." He showed Nathan something, and Nathan gasped as well.

"Go," he urged. "With my blessing. May luck follow you on every endeavor."

Sirius grinned. "I'll need it."

And he was gone in a flash that illuminated the tunnel ahead enough for Duster to notice something.

"Look out!" he cried, seizing Kumatora and pulling her to the ground - just in time, as a high-speed projectile shot out of the tunnel ahead and flew right by where their heads had been moments before. It hit the wall and shattered, its pieces clattering loudly in the silent chamber.

"What the hell was that!" fumed Kumatora, assuming an aggressive stance towards the tunnel.

"Something that doesn't want us here," said Nathan. "We'd best not take that tunnel." He abruptly turned left, towards a door with bars in place of a window. "Come on." He muttered something and the door disintegrated, but the moment the group stepped inside everything became pitch-black. Even the sun spell Nathan had tried only a few minutes before ceased to function properly, and as it was they could only see a small circle around them.

"Oh, God," said Jeff; it sounded very queer to hear him speak so, as he was an atheist in the name of sheer scientific fact. "I've read about these."

"About what, exactly?" said Kumatora irritably.

"Ancient underground...well, they were essentially prisons where people ancient rulers disliked were put and forgotten by all but their families and those who tended them. Eventually, they were all covered up or forgotten...there is one in every region," explained Jeff, indifferent to Kumatora's edgy remarks.

"Fascinating," said Nathan, glancing suspiciously at an old vase lying smashed on the floor near him as if it would rear up and attack.

"Apparently, the tortured souls of those who died remained here, and that's what's causing all this darkness," continued Jeff. "Utter nonsense, of course - "

"Jeff, you great prat," said Ness, grinning at him. "Look who you're talking to."

Jeff chuckled in slight embarassment. Nathan was grinning too.

"Are you really going to dismiss that sort of thing after all we've been through?" he laughed. "Let's see - zombies, that evil witch ghost of the theatre, other assorted anomalies, Mani Mani - " Ness scowled " - parasites, and aliens."

"Now, the real question is...what are we doing in here? Who did this, and is this in any way connected?" piped up Paula.

("Exactly,") said Boney suddenly.

"Yes, what are we doing in here?" asked Poo. "My people have been slaughtered..."

"It's connected," said Duster gruffly. "In case you didn't notice, those beasts came OUT of here. There's gotta be SOME connection...unless, of course, they spontaneously generated."

Jeff looked about to argue the point of spontaneous generation and stood on tiptoe, spine stiffened, when Duster noticed and laughed, hastily dismissing it as a joke.

"Duster's got a point," said Kumatora; they all looked at her, surprised: she had never agreed with Duster before. "Those things came out of here, and undoubtedly, something put them there. The least we can do is see if it's still there. I think we should start by - "

How exactly they should have started was cut short by a horrible pounding on the door, followed by hellish moans.

In a flash, more than 7 sets of weapons were held at the ready. Navenstrae crackled menacingly; Hydra and Scylla appeared to be reacting to one another's presence.

"You know it's hell when you're doing this," said Ness quietly. Nobody looked, but everybody heard, and the pounding subsided. Shuffling footsteps told them whatever it was had left dissatisfied. Nathan slowly opened the door, and they proceeded to have a look around.

"AAAGH!"

A man's yell of terror and panic reverberated through the halls, followed by gunshots. Something roared, then, silence.

"That was weird," said Paula.

"Talk about it," grumbled Lucas.

"We are not safe here," said Poo suddenly. "We must find what we are looking for and leave. As soon as physically possible."

"Why the rush, Poo?" said Ness amiably. "I figured we could take our time, kill a few monsters or something, ya know, that sort of thing."

"These are much more than monsters," said Poo. "I choose not to explain, unless we encounter one of these fiends."

"Well, where did the gunshots come from?" asked Paula.

"We'll probably find out," replied Nathan, his jaw set. "We seem to have a knack for attracting trouble - ah!"

The last word was a startled exclamation, and it became clear why as something shuffled across the path far ahead. Its form was indistinct, but it was certainly human.

"Was that a zombie?" said Ness quietly, after it was long gone. *

"It was worse," responded Poo, grinding his teeth. "We must not dawdle. It will find us - and I mean will."

Nathan nodded and set off down the passage with Ness and Boney. The rest followed in a tight huddle, their breath coming in puffs of frozen vapor. Kumatora grabbed Duster's hand; he noticed but said nothing, though he may have turned a bit red. Lucky it's dark, he thought.

"You know, today was my birthday," whispered Kumatora.

"Oh...you must feel horrible," said Duster. "Wait a sec...are you 18 now?'

"Yep," she whispered back, grinning. "Happy birthday to me, huh? Finally an adult...and spending my birthday wandering through a dark, empty palace full of monsters 100 years before my time."

"I feel bad for you," replied Duster quietly, though smiling somewhat.

"I can't think of a place I'd rather be," she admitted, glancing at their surroundings. Lucas suddenly started to snigger uncontrollably, and Nathan eventually just put a Silencing Spell on him ("Audipara!" he whispered).

Meanwhile, at the head of the group, Jeff was informing Boney, Ness, and Paula about the prison-like palace. "They're supposed to be thousands of years old," he said.

"That could be part of why whatever unleashed those monsters chose it," reasoned Paula. "Historical value."

"Or it just made a nice hiding place," countered Ness. He hugged Paula closer to him, and they continued.

"I wonder how deep it goes?" continued Jeff. "And how?"

("The most I can think of is that Dalaam is a very, ah, deep island,") answered Boney. ("Meaning caves can delve miles underground but not hit the sky underneath of Dalaam.")

"It is kind of cool to think that we're so far underground, and yet miles above sea level," said Ness. Nathan came up behind them, green hair ruffled unnecessarily to make him look, as Ness put it, "cool."

"Jeff, do you still have that sonar you had on Tanetane?" he asked.

Jeff grinned and pulled it out of his pack. There was a considerable amount of pink duct tape on it. "Tony's," he added hurriedly. "I ran out of silver." He showed them a large patch of silver on the back, slightly overlapped by the pink.

"Well...uh...can you do a scan?" asked Nathan.

Jeff pressed a button and the soundwaves ricocheted off of walls and solid objects only to return an endless image of corridors...and some distinctive shapes, all moving towards their location.

"Uh oh," breathed Nathan.

The shuffling of feet was heard, and steadily grew closer. Ness whipped out Hydra, slashing silver aura through the air. Lucas copied him with Scylla, and the two blades glowed like the sun. Paula held the Holy Frying Pan over her head with one hand, another readying a PSI Fire. Duster's boots crackled with electrical energy, King and Boney growled menacingly, and Kumatora just scowled at the air. (It may seem dull, but she claimed to be at her best when scowling like so.) Jeff, meanwhile, had a pair of flamethrowers.

As a creature came into view, Paula brough the Holy Frying Pan down with a resounding CLANG that knocked it dead, or at least unconscious.

More streamed slowly in. Fire did its job - the flammable creatures dropped like flies. Ness and Lucas, who had no fire, merely beheaded their assailants, while Nathan and Boney leaped and whirled like a well-trained battle pair, wreaking firey havoc upon the masses encircling them.

"Boney's quite the pyro, isn't he?" called Nathan blithely from the mass of creatures. Ness drove Hydra into one's chest and ripped its body in half before running to help Nathan, splitting heads in the process. Blood pooled on the ground, making splashes as they ran through it and leaving grisly scarlet footprints upon the ground. A nauseating odor of burning hair and the enticing scent of cooking meat filled the air, creating a rather neutral smell that reminded them strongly of chalk.

One lunged for Kumatora's throat as she engaged another. Duster tugged her back and delivered a charged kick to its face - the electricity in the boot ignited it and it crumpled, moaning.

"Thanks," said Kumatora rather breathlessly.

"It wasn't a problem," replied Duster, just as breathlessly.

They fought and fought until they were exhausted and they couldn't see the ground because of all the blood.

"Well, that's that," said Nathan with a shrug. "We have to go on."

"Is that it?" panted Ness to Poo. "Those your monsters?"

"There are worse. Much worse."

Ness shook his head.

* * *

It had been some time since the battle with the monsters, but Poo remained wary. Finally, Nathan said they ought to split up.

Duster and Kumatora headed into a small room with nothing but an old candle and a half-eaten chair. It was so tiny Duster couldn't stretch his whole leg out.

"That's weird," said Duster.

"Who would eat a chair?" asked Kumatora. "Unless it was made of beef or something..."

There was a noise from outside. Duster shut the door quickly and quietly and pulled Kumatora into the corner. "Stay...very...quiet."

But whatever it was had heard them, and moaned despicably as it pounded incessantly on the door.

And the door began to splinter. The room was so tiny there wasn't even room to launch a counterattack.

"Ohh, why did we go in here?" groaned Duster. "I've never even - "

"Kissed a girl?" guessed Kumatora. "Well, I've never kissed a guy."

They looked at each other, and the pounding and moans seemed stifled, and in that second they kissed each other, locked in a fierce embrace.

(Some feelings I shall not describe. Partially because some are too sappy. Others require a rating of M.)

POUND. POUND.

The creature kept pounding on the door. It seemed an eternity, but its heavily bound body and bleeding fists smashed the wooden door into splinters on one final hit. And as Duster and Kumatora prepared to spend their last moment fighting for their lives, a golden blade flew almost out of nowhere and stuck in the side of the monster's head. They breathed a sigh of relief and started kissing again.

"You guys need me to save you? Really?" crowed Lucas, then he stopped as he came into view of the door. "Oh. Whoa. Just gonna walk away now."

Duster and Kumatora broke apart. "Ehehe...sorry."

"Uhh...right then, lovebirds, c'mon outta there..."

Lucas frowned, then laughed.

"Suppose it's only natural. Better than those eejits who put ME with Kumatora."

"Lucas, don't smear other writers," scolded Kumatora. "You're not supposed to do that anyway."

"I'm just expressing the opinion that 90% of the Mother fanfic community puts me with you, because they assume that we go well together like Ness and Paula. Well, it's not true," explained Lucas.

"Lucas, haven't you ever heard that a writer's writing reflects his opinions?" sighed Duster. "His PERSONAL opinions?"

"Well, I guess I'm expressing the writer's opinions. Now, are you two coming out of there or do I need to stand guard over the door to stop other monsters trying to eat you?"

"That'd be nice," said Duster absently, making sure the Siren Beetle was still asleep.

"I was JOKING! Now, get out, or I ask Jeff to borrow his flamethrower."

* * *

Ness quickly darted to the side as a flurry of claws slammed into the cracked flagstones where he had just stood. He whipped out Hydra and decapitated the monster, blood pouring into the cracks in the floor. Paula retched slightly and looked away.

"Honestly!" cried Ness. "After all the blood we've seen..."

"It still makes me sick!" snapped Paula.

Jeff laughed.

"Don't laugh!" snapped Paula, rounding on him.

Ness laughed too.

"You two are insufferable!" she fumed.

Suddenly, Ness looked straight at Jeff, his grey eyes piercing.

("Are you thinking what I'm thinking?")

("Which is?")

("Do you remember the Lesbourne incident?")

("Of course. What of it? I seem to remember a change in Paula's bow colour...")

("Not that, you twit...she was acting differently. Like she is now.")

("Are you suggesting that - ")

("That is exactly what I am suggesting.") Ness frowned, puzzled. Then Paula turned to face him, and he noticed that her eyes were black. Something rang a bell there, but what was the issue? He didn't know.

"Paula?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes?"

"Come here."

She obeyed, and he hugged her. Then he jumped and withdrew as if he had been hit with an electric shock. "What?" she asked frantically.

"Paula...I think...you have the parasite."

* * *

"And you said they...?"

Nathan laughed as Lucas nodded, looking rather unnerved.

"Well, we should forget it for now." Nathan peered over the edge of the ravine. "Looks pretty deep," he said casually.

"And you want us to jump down there, don't you?" asked Lucas dully, knowing the answer already.

"Yes," said Nathan lightly, as if discussing it over tea.

("I'm scared,") said Boney. ("I'm not gonna do it.")

"You jumped into a volcano once," said Nathan, frowning at the dog.

("I had a shield.")

"A magma shield, yeah. But you still jumped. Not many people or animals would have that nerve. This is water. You can do it!"

Boney gulped.

"Come on, if there's nothing down there we can just fly back up."

And Nathan flung himself over the edge of the ravine. For a moment, he was suspended there in midair, gloriously illuminated by some imagined light source, then he plummeted like a stone. There was a resounding splash and they heard him call something.

("He said it's fine,") said Boney to Lucas, whose ears were not as sharp as a dog's.

"Right then," said Lucas. "Cheers."

And he, too leapt from the safety of the ground to the air, where gravity took hold and dragged him downwards into the water. Another splash, and Lucas yelled up: "Come on down, it's perfectly safe!"

Boney swallowed his fear (and a spider that had been crawling across his nose) and charged, launching himself into the waters of the ravine far below.

He hit with a splash, his nostrils filling with water, and came up sputtering. He doggy-paddled to a hunk of stone that was protruding from the water and rested. Nathan and Lucas swam a lap or so before becoming bored and looking around for clues of where the monsters could have come from.

Just then, a large, fat spider dropped onto Lucas' head, where he panicked and dove underwater. When he came back up, he looked shaken.

"What's up?" asked Nathan.

"I saw light down there. There's space down there, and I think...I think we should check it out."

* * *

King and Poo walked absently down the hallways. Bodies of monsters littered the ground behind them, and the Sword of Kings glistened with blood. King's fur was stained scarlet.

"This is not good," said Poo for the fifth time.

("I know,") replied King. ("Wonder where the others are?")

Just then, they came to a dead end. But this dead end was very odd. Unlike the other dead ends they had hit so far, the corners consisted of what looked like 1/4 of a pillar. In between these quarter-pillars was a strange carving: a wriggling snake with one eye showing, surrounded by what looked like writhing, thick, dark worms. A dark liquid was spraying from the snake's mouth onto said worms. The snake's eye had a vertical pupil that, on closer inspection, was actually a hole.

("Weird,") said King.

"But not entirely," said Poo. "It is possible..."

What exactly was possible King did not find out, as Poo left the sentence hanging and instead inspected the eye more closely. Then, in one fluid motion, he drew the Sword of Kings and jammed it into the pupil. King was bewildered for a moment, but then the wall slid apart to reveal a chamber inside of which was a shining table bearing a piece of parchment. Poo read it aloud in plain English:

"Create a potion by mixing the Dayl Leaf, a crushed fragment of the White Stone, the venom of the Pink Snake, and extract of the Idris plant...Those afflicted with the curse of the Parasiticus Helminthus shall be restored, and thus the curse shall be broken." Poo frowned. "These ingredients are found in Dalaam, but...the Pink Snake? There is no Pink Snake in Dalaam..." King, too, was bewildered, but said nothing. "And what is a Parasiticus Helminthus?"

They took the paper with them, sprinting down the halls to where they hoped to find the others.

* * *

Duster and Kumatora paused, listening for anything that might have been around. They heard footsteps like someone running, but it wasn't the uncoordinated clunk, clunk-clunk of a monster's sped-up footsteps. They also heard what sounded like animal claws clicking on stone, and moments later King and Poo skidded to a halt in front of them. Poo clutched a fragment of paper.

"We have found something!" Poo announced.

Duster took the fragment of paper and read it over. "Huh?"

Poo took it back and repeated the message, including his added comment about the Pink Snake in Dalaam.

"Pink Snake...?" muttered Duster. Then something clicked. "Rope Snake!"

"Of course!" cried Kumatora. "He's pink...as pink as a snake can get," she added.

"But I didn't know he had venom..."

"He probably doesn't either," reasoned Kumatora. "You know Rope Snake...kinda dopey..."

Duster laughed. "Yeah."

"Well, putting all that aside, we need to get this information to everyone else," stated Poo.

("Right,") agreed King with a bark, which Duster took as agreement. They sprinted off down the hall, straight towards three figures who were running at them.

Ness skidded to a halt on the blood-slicked floors. Paula and Jeff did the same, and they met Kumatora, Poo, Duster, and King, who informed them of a recent discovery. They went in the direction Nathan had gone, only to encounter a steep ravine.

And in that ravine, Nathan, Lucas, and Boney were tied up and preparing a counterattack against those that held them hostage.

* * *

Well, that was a bit of an abrupt ending, but I don't want more dialogue, and I wanted to write a segment for anyone looking to purchase the latest Coldplay album.

But first, story information, and some stuff about my life when I'm not displayed through text on a computer screen.

Firstly:

I will not be writing as much. Expect fewer updates, and farther between. I am being loaded with schoolwork, but there are breaks in it (partially because my fantastic mind can do stuff in about 10 minutes max if I really focus on it).

Second(ly?):

I've met this girl who fell in love with my best friend then broke up with him after a week, so I'm having some trouble sorting this out...and again, LESS UPDATES, FARTHER BETWEEN.

Third:

Go to YouTube. Look up "Loch Ness Monster Eats Duck." The video is less than a minute long. After you've watched it, go cry under your blankets. Then show it to your friends.

And now...

WARNING: EXTENSIVE MUSIC CRITICISM HERE, JUST REVIEW MY FANFICTION UP THERE IF YOU WANT.

Also, anyone with the power to moderate who may be reading this: I swear, if you remove this chapter for just this little segment, I am going to put it right back up. There is no point in removing it except to be a git, because it's just an Author's...really long Note.

So, I'm listening to Mylo Xyloto (album) by Coldplay right now. Got it yesterday, it was $5.

Brian Eno is their new composer (most of the "older" songs were composed by Chris Martin or Will Champion). And while I understand Brian Eno is very (very) well-respected, his songs aren't quite like "old" Coldplay. In fact, while most of the album is good, some stuff I shoved into a seperate folder called "Bad Coldplay." There are four songs in there, all from Mylo Xyloto.

So, before I go on, quick explanation of Coldplay (as I view it):

"Old" Coldplay: Good combos of acoustics/electrics/pianos, none of this garbage modern music with its synthesizers with "Saw Lead" on it (pardoning Usher). Good drumbeats, some weird instruments like cellos. (Who puts cellos in an alt rock song? These guys.) Listen to "A Rush of Blood to the Head" for some of "old" Coldplay.

"New" Coldplay: Kind of weird. It's hard for me to believe that music with a synthesizer in it came from Coldplay, yet it did. And while I don't mind if the synthesizer is minimal, some drumbeats are too "disco-disco," and by that I mean THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP with no defined rhythm, just that single beat over and over again. Bit hard to explain, also, singing style has changed.

Good songs from Mylo Xyloto:

Hurts Like Heaven - A new taste to Coldplay, but still good.

Us Against the World - A callback to "old" Coldplay.

U.F.O. - Also a callback to "old" Coldplay. (At first, I thought this was some sort of remake of Katy Perry's "E.T.", which I would have recieved with distaste.)

Paradise - Weird beginning, but it's pretty good otherwise.

Charlie Brown - A really good combo of some modern music and "old" Coldplay.

Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - Just a good song.

6/14 isn't really 50%, though. Four out of the remaining eight are so-so. The other four, listed below, are bad.

M.M.I.X. - Okay, Coldplay, you can count to 2011 in Roman numerals...and I'm not being sarcastic or cynical there, I just realized that, but it's not even a song. I checked a recording of it and it's just a few notes spread out over 30-45 seconds...

A Hopeful Transmission - It's only 33 seconds long...it's not "bad," so to speak, but I'm still not a huge fan there.

Up In Flames - The beat is too heavy. It's just too heavy to be the same band, sort of like when Green Day got all emo and people divided into "Old Green Day" and "New Green Day."

Princess of China - I saved the best (worst, really) for last. The whole beginning has to be at least a minute long and full of synthesizer Saw Lead crap. Also, they did it with Rihanna. That just does it for me. I'm going to give it another shot, then it's going to become food for my pet Recycling Bin named Jerry.

So, there's my summary of the album. Longer than I expected. Just getting my opinions out there, like my thoughts on LucasxKumatora earlier, expressed by Lucas himself.


	13. Hellfire

Chapter 13: Hellfire

I'm getting way too used to having a review on every chapter. I need to not do that.

One thing:

EPIC

DUEL

FTW!

No notes otherwise, getting right to the point.

* * *

Lucas struggled frantically, but to no avail. Boney whimpered and snarled, his eyes becoming fire that their oddly-dressed captors backed away from suspiciously. Nathan did nothing, only look their captors in the eyes with an expression similar to one he might have had over tea.

"Who are you?" yelled Lucas frantically.

"We are Kar!" stated one dramatically, stepping forwards into the light. Lucas noticed a silver crescent moon pierced by an arrow notched on the sides danging as a necklace from the neck of the "Kar", but said nothing.

("Nathan! Boney! It's that sign!") cried Lucas through speech of mind.

"What sign?" demanded one of their captors.

"Nothing," said Lucas quickly. "It's just..."

["They can hear our speech of mind,"] realized Nathan, speaking via their Order signs. ["Hopefully they cannot hear this...it is Order-only...HEY! CAN YOU HEAR THIS!"]

With the shout, Lucas cringed from Nathan's voice ringing through his mind. The Order tattoos glowed dimly.

The Kar stepped back from the three Order members, muttering among themselves and pointing at the tattoos.

"You are of the Order," said one, finally stepping forwards.

"The Order of the Dragon," declared another one.

"Yes," stated Nathan boldly. ["This is odd..."]

Lucas realized suddenly that their odd raiment was the clothing of guards. ["Nathan! They're guards!"]

["Guards...guards!"] said Nathan, catching on quickly.

["From when the palace was new...?"] wondered Boney.

["Don't ask,"] came Nathan's irritable response. ["I don't know myself, but I've just realized something..."]

["What?"]

["These guards are an ancient coalition, to have been able to survive past mortal men. It has been thousands of years since the palace's construction, correct? So, if they were these ages then...they must have unearthed a deep magic to have enchanted themselves so."] Nathan's voice came in quick bursts, a Scottish accent becoming more pronunciated in each syllable of every word in his excitement and frustration.

["And...?"] asked Boney.

["If they know the Order, the Order wasn't founded by my father. Problem is, everyone believes he founded it, but...let's see...he was a dragon..."]

["How is your father a dragon?"] asked Lucas.

["I don't know, and I don't want to find out,"] came the response. ["But dragons die too, and he could only have been 400-odd years old out of 1000...this coalition is ancient, and I do believe that the only contact they had with the outside world was at the beginning...so the Order must have existed then."] He scratched his head with his normal arm, which had mysteriously freed itself from the ropes. ["All I know is that my father heads it now, and I am second-in-command after him."]

["Nathan?"]

["Yes?"]

["How old are you really?"]

["Fifteen."]

["And how old could you be?"]

["Half-dragons live to be about 500, just as full dragons live to 1000."]

["Fascinating...now, we need to get out of here,"] said Boney.

Just then, three Kar came forwards and freed them.

"We have no dealings with the Order or the Confederacy," said one.

"The Confederacy!" bellowed Nathan, leaping up with a pulse of energy that radiated from his body. "Are they - "

"They are back," verified a Kar.

"This isn't good," stated Nathan. "Lucas. Boney. We have to get out of here."

And in a quick flash, the three had vanished.

"We can only wish them luck in their endeavors," said a hooded figure.

And the Kar went to dispose of their fallen member, slain by a monster.

* * *

"Oi!" bellowed Lucas, sprinting across the blood-slicked floors side-by-side with Nathan and Boney.

They ran smack into Kumatora, Duster, Poo, and King.

Duster stood up, looking bemused. "Huh...?"

"The Confederacy," said Nathan quickly.

"But what - "

"No time! WE HAVE TO - " Nathan said a very strong swear indeed - "MOVE! WE HAVE TO - " he repeated it -

"GET BACK TO THE ORDER BASE! NOW!"

Without hesitating, as if it were a direct order from a commander instead of someone who had became their friend, they bolted down the hallways, shouting "Ness! Jeff! Paula!" without worrying about monsters or anything. At one point, the manuscript Poo was holding flew out of his hands when he slipped in a puddle of blood, right down a crack in the floor that was just wide enough for it, but Nathan shouted "Volverus Antisales!" and it flew back faster than you could repeat the incantation.

Just then, Ness poked his head around the corner, only to be punched in the face by Kumatora. He toppled backwards rather comically, then stood up. "What the hell!" he yelled at her, waving Hydra wildly; Paula and Jeff leapt back. He looked very fearsome indeed, covered in bruises and lacerations and blood that clearly was not his.

"Sorry!" whimpered Kumatora. "I thought you were...you know..."

Ness' rage faded instantly. He lowed Hydra, shook his head and said, "'S alright. 'S alright. They've been messing with us all. You know, we just got attacked." He turned around warily. At least that explains all the blood, thought Lucas savagely.

"Come on. Order base. Podunk. Now," urged Nathan, and they glanced at a portal he had just created. "Come on, I can't teleport into the Order base, nobody can, only portals and only if you have the Order tattoo, otherwise you just bounce off of the portal - go!"

They emerged from the blue haze of the portal into a vorpal blackness, then they were still momentarily, and Paula experienced the overwhelming sensation of being stuck with no return (though Nathan was right there), and suddenly they felt like they were being fired from a shotgun, blazing through a world of rainbow aura with no end to it. And there was a vivid green portal ahead - "Permaportals," explained Nathan quickly, "stick around forever," and they fell into a second realm of blackness which turned into a green haze that quickly became translucent, and shrunk to a window -

SLAM.

They crashed into a wall.

"Steel!" shouted Duster. "I'd know it anywhere..."

"Wall...?" wondered Nathan.

("Romperis!") commanded Boney. The wall shattered.

They tumbled into an eerily silent Order base.

"This isn't good," said Ness.

("Not good at all,") emphasized King.

"Hmm..." muttered Nathan. "Revaelis!"

They felt a jolt like an electric shock.

"We're not alone," said Nathan at once. "Jeff - sonar - now."

Jeff pressed a button on his sonar device, which had mysteriously acquired a large dent in it.

It actually took several minutes, but eventually a map of the area appeared. The lowest basement floors appeared flooded with figures, some carrying what looked like swords.

"Now," said Nathan at once. The ten of them ran to the stairway and, instead of running down the large spiral stairs, leapt straight through the middle hole. They plummeted down, down -

- and landed like feathers, safely. The sounds of fighting were faint in the distance.

"Damn," said Duster. "They're farther than I thought."

"This could be to our advantage," said Jeff abruptly.

"Advantage!" roared Nathan.

Paula suddenly began to feel uneasy. She muttered this to Ness.

"I forgot about that," said Ness, eyes widening. "Nathan, Paula has the parasite..."

Nathan gasped. "That's awful..."

"We think she got it in the palace..."

"The palace has way too much to do with that...and apparently, so do that Kar."

"Can you explain all this?" asked Kumatora.

"Not now," said Nathan. "Jeff, how is this to our advantage?"

"We can call in reinforcements from here," explained Jeff. "Just...use the tattoo."

Nathan nodded slowly. "Yes. A storm of reinforcements should bring up spirits...and lower our enemies'."

He was silent momentarily. Then, by magic, a portal opened up, and a vast and diverse army spewed from it.

"This is important, right, Nathan?" asked a guy they recognized as Jack.

"Like hell it is," growled Nathan.

They saw many familiar and unfamiliar faces: Jack, his wyvern and its flaming red armour, Arcturus wearing that cobalt-fire armour, Chris, Rose (the stubborn secretary), a burly man with an acid-green wyvern, a middle-aged man with a mechanical leg and a fire broadsword, Natalie, her wyvern Lacey, a boy around Jeff's age but already scarred beyond belief and with a heavy magic tome strapped to his back and a lance slung over his shoulder, what looked like an octopus on legs wearing a pair of jeans and a cloak with a blade of light, and many others - both human and inhuman.

"Come on!" roared Ness before Nathan could.

They did not know whether to listen to Ness, but Nathan said loudly, "Listen to what he says! I trust Ness like I would a brother...a real brother," he added in a dark undertone to Ness, so that nobody else heard. "Not like Slater..."

"Nathan," said Ness, touched by the personal admittance, but also riddled with burning curiosity: "What's the Confederacy?"

"I'll tell you real quick," said Nathan, "and go into details later. The Confederacy of the Serpent is an organization of pure evil. They've done many awful, awful things to men and the Order over the thousands of years. And we're probably going to fight them. Now, come on."

The platoon of soldiers shot out of the gates, screaming a bloodcurdling war cry. The sounds of fighting ceased momentarily from behind a pair of steel doors at the end of a long hallway, then, as the reinforcements burst in through those doors, the Order members let out a triumphant shout. Ness saw Lynn fighting back-to-back with Jack, Isaac back-to-back with Chris, Natalie riding Lacey and casting spell after spell in every direction. Jack's wyvern and Arcturus were on the ground, swiping with powerful forelegs at the enemy.

And the enemy was shown to be a horrible foe.

It consisted mainly, like the Order, of men, but there were other races in there too ("Both were founded on Earth," Nathan said later), and some large serpents enchanted with a Flying Spell.

("Basilisks!") roared Arcturus furiously. ("Brenin! Use some fire on those damn insults to everything that tries to keep justice alive! TORCH 'EM!")

Blue flame erupted from Arcturus' jaws, and the red wyvern (called Brenin, from what they heard of Arcturus talking) blasted one giant snake (a basilisk?) full in the face with a plume of flame; its eyes turned to ash and it writhed wildly as Jack's wyvern Brenin tore into it.

("Oh, you'll never get usss,") hissed a basilisk, dodging Arcturus' attacks, and it lunged straight for his throat.

"No!" cried Nathan, and he darted sideways, firing a spell, but somebody else was faster, slamming the basilisk aside.

"No, you fool! He's mine!" roared a voice somewhat like Nathan's.

"SLATER!" bellowed Nathan, and Arcturus took advantage of Slater's pause to ram into Nathan's brother full-on.

Nathan caught the flying Slater and pinned him down, but Slater leapt back up and shot up into the air.

"Take me!" he spat, and pulled the ruby S from his arm, tossing it to the ground. "COME ON IN!"

Nothing happened.

"I SAID COME ON IN!" repeated Slater.

Nathan, bewildered, suddenly grinned widely.

"What!" demanded Slater.

"I think our lab technicians have finally figured your little trick out," said Nathan calmly. Then the two brothers launched into an aerial duel, taking lunges at one another while darting and dodging various spells midair.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Ness and Lucas battled 14 YES.

One grabbed Ness, laughing dumbly.

"Oh, no, you don't!" screamed Ness, and with a quick slash of Hydra he sliced off an unmentionable part of its body. It howled in pain and crumpled, and then Hydra and Scylla glowed again. But this time Navenstrae did it too.

And in a flash of light:

What felt like a black hole erupted in the middle of the combat, tearing through enemies and allies alike with considerable force. The allies, luckily, had gotten a lesser blast - possibly, the weapons detected who should not have been hurt and lessened the energy upon them. Or it was a complete coincidence.

While the battle raged in its expected (and, as Kumatora would describe it, "clichéd") course, Nathan and Slater dueled high above them.

"Hemobactrn!" screamed Slater wildly. Nathan coughed up a bloody pulp of twigs, then felt a sudden slice of a blade in his stomach.

He had been attacked from behind.

Everything seemed to happen in slow-motion: Duster, noticing, yelled in anguish and threw a Wall Staple at Slater, Nathan fell limply, blood pouring from his abdomen, Paula screamed, Kumatora and Ness caught Nathan's body as he gasped with pain, Isaac shouted, and the collective rage of the Order exploded with the force of a bomb. The Confederacy was shattered, some physically, some mentally, and most were merely forced away with heavy injuries.

And then came a lone triumphant shout of Lucas.

"DUSTER! YOU'VE DONE IT!" he roared.

"Done what?" asked Duster, forgetting Nathan momentarily.

Slater laid moaning on the ground.

"A defunct Wall Staple," explained Lucas. "Look how long this bloody prong is...you drove it straight into his chest."

"Will he die?"

"I dunno. I think his lung might be punctured, he's breathing funny."

"It doesn't matter. Someone grab this prat, and we need to see to Nathan."

* * *

Forty-eight hours had passed. Nathan, as it turns out, had been ripped by a Bladearm, a nasty race with a toxic, magic-preventing ooze similar to the coating on the bullets at Poisonwood coating their bladed arms. Its precision had been deadly: if Nathan had had the strength to lean back, the cut would have ripped to a gash with his intestines spilling out.

As it was, he lay with stitches, 147 of them, motionless.

"I don't understand," said Paula. "How..."

"Almost anyone can die," said Kumatora quietly. "It doesn't matter who they are. They might have a resistance to physical weakness, but unless they're completely invulnerable...anyone can die from physical wounds."

"Look at all this blood," said Lucas, and he drew out three jars full of blood from his backpack.

"All his?"

"Boney collected it."

"What for?"

"Transfusions?"

Nathan, just then, gave a great shuddering gasp and twitched once, twice. Paula, nervous, felt his pulse, then whimpered.

"I don't feel anything."

"Lemme try," said Duster. After a moment, he, too, came up with nothing.

Lucas suddenly crumpled under the weight of the three jars; one popped open, some blood splashing onto Nathan's face.

Some got into his mouth, and they wiped it all away.

"Guys?" asked Paula finally.

There was a long silence, in which each one of them checked Nathan at least twice.

"He's gone," said Kumatora bluntly. "We must've checked him eighteen times..."

* * *

"Oh my God."

That was Isaac's reaction the next day.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, incredulous.

"Not a bit," sniffed Paula.

Isaac's face darkened. The shadows became more pronounced. "I don't believe this..."

* * *

The second day was worse than the first. A coffin in the shape of a dragon was prepared, and Nathan's body lowered into it.

They saw his father then.

A great, majestic, reddish-olive dragon, greater than any wyvern, looking sadly down at the casket. Then, suddenly, he sniffed once, twice, then nudged his son's body.

Ness swore he saw Nathan's father smirk.

* * *

The entire Order mourned his death. All, it seemed, except Isaac, Nathan's father, and some other members they didn't know.

"You think they planned this?" asked Lucas one day.

"Almost certainly," replied Jeff stuffily.

* * *

"It is likely," said Poo.

"It doesn't matter," said Kumatora suddenly, sounding as though she had a bad head cold.

"Why not?"

"He wanted us to save the Yannabi, right? So, we need to follow the instructions on that manuscript. And concoct that potion. Save the Yannabi."

Poo nodded slowly. "Yes. She is right. If we do not save them, then the world will be overtaken and he will have died in vain trying to make peace, or they will all invade Earth and we shall kill them all off, and that is not solving anything."

* * *

And all around the world, and across galaxies and dimensions, Order members mourned the death of their Second-In-Command.

Nathan Castiel, thought Ness that night, I will do whatever it takes...

...to fix what went wrong...and get down to the root of it.

* * *

Nathan? Dead? O_o

Naturally, there is more to this than I am letting on, but you'll find that out...in Chapter 15. That's right. A whole chapter

without any mention of Nathan, who's probably my second-favorite. (My favorite is Duster.)

And what do Isaac, Nathan's father, and that weird squad of Order members have to do with it?

Anyway.

First, I'd like to share this amusing face with you.

¬_⌐

And second...

Please review, I could use feedback on how I'm doing!

:3 Denying the Kittyface is denying yourself. Click the Review button and you might just get a cheezburger.

A-Lord-Over-Birds


	14. The Root of the Problem

Chapter 14: The Root of the Problem

AARGH. MY WRITING HAS BEEN SO OFF LATELY. T_T

I noticed some bad writing while reviewing the last chapter. For example, I wrote:

"Then the two brothers launched into a full-out duel, taking melee lunges at one another while darting and dodging various spells midair.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Ness and Lucas battled 14 YES.

One grabbed Ness, laughing dumbly.

'Oh, no, you don't!' screamed Ness, and with a quick slash of Hydra he sliced off  
an unmentionable part of its body. It howled in pain and crumpled, and then Hydra and Scylla glowed again. But this time Navenstrae did it too."

Let's have a go at it. The first paragraph, I dislike the use of the word "melee". While technically correct (the original use of the word melee, before gaming nerds started using it in their odd, nasal voices, was to describe physical fighting), it just doesn't work for me.

The fourth paragraph, my complaint is not with the slicing-off of...uh...things, but with the grammatical structure of it. "It howled in pain and crumpled, and then Hydra and Scylla glowed again" should read "As it howled in pain and crumpled to the floor, Hydra and Scylla began glowing once more." After that comes "But this time Navenstrae did it too." This should read as an extension of the previous sentence: "...Hydra and Scylla began glowing once more; however, Navenstrae began glowing as well." _ I feel dumb.

Something like that.

On another note, as a guitarist, I am required to stretch my fingers quite far and move them quite rapidly. Especially as a rhythm guitarist, where I have to keep one finger anchored to a fret while the others have to stretch up to four frets away.

Well, I'm finally learning to play Coldplay's Green Eyes, and let's have a go at the first chord progression:

A | E/G# | Bm(add11)

For those who play guitar, this is an exceedingly painful chord progression. (Well, it's not as bad after you practice some, but at first...arggh.)

Anyway, enjoy this chapter, featuring ents, Arcturus, dragon's blood, and a pink [EXPUNGED].

Boy, I've been reading too much SCP. (Google that. It's on .com. It can get a bit rude though. :L)

(Update to A/N as of 3/11/12: Well, I've had writer's block for a long time, so there might be some story inconsistencies where I've forgotten brilliant ideas had before.)

(Update as of 3/17/12: Grammatical revision from earlier in the note.)

(Update as of 7/13/12: Aack. I wrote this four months ago!)

* * *

Ness snarled.

Slater was pinned under him, spitting blood onto the ground. Hydra lay gleaming sinisterly at his throat, jugular pulsing furiously.

"You..." spat Ness.

"That's right," laughed Slater in a choking, rasping cough.

Hydra pressed forward in a flash; blood was everywhere, spraying across the ground, into the walls and ceiling, Slater was screaming, Ness was shouting in triumph -

"NESS!"

He opened his eyes and found a girl's face swimming into view above him.

"Aah...Paula?"

"Yes, me," said Paula, grabbing his hand and yanking him to his feet. "You had Hydra somehow...you were waving it around...anyway. Get up."

"What for...?"

"You don't remember, do you?"

"No...I don't..." His eyes, heavy with sleep, shut again and he collapsed onto the bed, snoring.

"Oh, for heaven's sake..."

She shook her head and left the room.

"Let him miss the hunt's preparation..."

"THE HUNT!" bellowed Ness, leaping up immediately. In a flash he was dressed, fed, and outside breathing in the fresh air. A tombstone lay not far from where he stood, and Paula looked solemnly at it. The lachrymose silence put the last fortnight into perspective for Ness.

"It's no use worrying," he had said laconically, though with great sadness. "It's over now."

"I know," Paula had replied thickly through a curtain of tears. "But...still..."

"I getcha," Kumatora had told her sympathetically, head bowed in respect for their fallen comrade.

Yes, it had been 2 weeks since the tragic incident. And today was the hunt for the Yannabi, the hunt for the cause of the madness, the hunt for the root of the problem.

* * *

Ness stepped onto the clanking metal, a light drizzle falling.

"Is this actually going to work?" he asked Jack, who was maintaining the craft.

"Oh, yeah," grinned Jack. "It'll work." His face became stony. "I dunno why we didn't do this sooner...but I'm not exactly under authorization to organize massive space missions."

He proceeded to pull a crystal phial from his pocket and waggle it in front of Ness.

"Dragon's blood. Powerful stuff. Can bring the recently dead back to life. Not like the elderly, they'll die again. People who've died in battle, even with wounds. Unfortunately, if the frontal lobe is melted - " Jack clicked his fingers " - they'll just be zombies, otherwise they're fine."

"How do you collect it?"

"Sometimes our wyverns get little cuts and we get it from there. It's not like we can 'farm' it, if you get me. They don't like being used very much, but they do understand. We have an EXTREMELY limited supply of this stuff, though. This phial's only enough for one person."

He pocketed it once more.

"Hopefully we won't need it."

"Why didn't you use it for Nathan?"

"The Confederacy stole our whole supply. That's what started the attack. The guards noticed the damn thieves and they would have got away with it if one of the guards hadn't happened to be Desmond."

Ness vaguely remembered a Desmond. "That guy who got really suspicious of us?"

"Aye." Jack grinned, and it struck Ness how young Jack was. He could only have been around Duster's age, yet Duster seemed so much older. Jack, meanwhile, was kind of like Ness' older brother. "He got the situation pretty well. Managed to get the call for help out without alerting the enemy too soon, then struck when they least expected. Too bad they brought reinforcements, or else ours would have initially crushed them. Despite what happened to Nathan, Desmond's getting a promotion, he did a good job on his own. It's not his fault that damn dirty Bladearm thing got him." Jack's normally calm or grinning face fell into shadow, and his eyes flashed a startling crimson. "I'll kill the Bladearm, last thing I do or not."

"What is it with you people and your eyes?" blurted out Ness.

"What?"

"Your eyes are always changing colour. Nathan's always went from grey to gold to crimson and stuff. Yours just went from brown to crimson."

"It comes with wyverns, I guess," he shrugged. "If you're always in close contact with a wyvern, psychically as well, I suppose it kinda happens. You start to wear your heart on your sleeve sometimes...well, your iris."

Ness could not help laughing. It was the first time in a while.

"What about the Broadbander?"

Jack paused. "It did get a signal from..." he paused and then pointed to the sky. "Over there."

Ness stared upwards. "Where that thing's coming from?"

"Thing?" said Jack, confused. He followed Ness' gaze, straight up to a blindingly white object in the sky.

Just then, Ness fainted. "Ness!" shouted Jack in alarm, down on one knee to examine him.

But what Ness saw was far more interesting and dangerous than what Jack saw.

* * *

"Do you know where it is?" asked a raspy and horribly familiar voice.

Ness, if he had been conscious, would have gasped.

Giygas.

"No, brother," said another, similar voice that Ness knew as well - Gygath.

And the worst voice of all, and it too was familiar -

"Silence, fools. I will not have this in my domain."

Two dim torches flickered into life. The room was dimly lit, but he could tell who the figures were.

Giygas, Gygath, and finally Rycoulth, the worst of the trio.

"I know exactly where it is. I have it on my map, if you would care to look, insolent beings." Rycoulth's sinister claws grasped a sheet of ancient parchment, but instead of holding it in front of him or the other two, he lay it flat on what appeared to be a small table and it projected an image from its lines, a real-life image, like a photograph, of the areas inscribed on the map. And Ness saw that Rycoulth would sweep his claws along the map and it would scroll, rather like a modern touch-screen. (Ness did not think of this analogy, as the only touch-screen device he had ever seen was the smartphone Nathan had showed him a long time ago.)

"Here," said Rycoulth, and he made a strange motion with his claws. The map zoomed out from Eagleland, which he had obviously been observing with this map, to space. Then he began to scroll again, stopping at a very queer-looking planet. It was almost identical to Eagleland's planet (what was it even called?), pardoning the different geography. But the plants were green and the water blue, and dotted here and there were some structures. As he watched, a ship shot away from the planet in the direction opposite from Eagleland.

The map, apparently, was like a live video of whatever area the owner fancied. It was clearly of no dark magic, probably just some artifact Rycoulth had stolen. Rycoulth himself had touched the planet with a claw. A set of galactic coordinates appeared. Ness' subconscious mind raced to memorize them...

The vision faded, but not before he spotted a small ticker on the wall listing another set of coordinates. Perhaps it was some sort of galactic positioning system? He memorized those too.

"Ness!" urged Jack.

He was awake now. He knew what he was doing, and walked straight into the ship with no other thing in mind than inputting those coordinates. Jack followed, curious. The guards instructed him to stop, but he showed them a small rank badge and they stood aside.

* * *

While this was happening, Duster, Kumatora, Poo, and King were searching for Rope Snake. Flynn, who they hadn't seen in a while, offered to lead them and take charge of portal travel. Last time they had seen Rope Snake, he was lying in a hole. They didn't know his current whereabouts.

An hour elapsed. Someone knocked on the door. Duster traipsed across the room to open it and there stood Ness and Jack.

"Hello!" said Ness cheerily. "I've got a surprise for you." When the group turned back to the table and only Duster came out of the room, he sighed: "ALL of you."

They exited the room (cleverly concealed behind a bookshelf with a small button hidden in the top shelf) and followed Ness. "I think you'll really like this," said Ness. "Ah...was it here, Jack?"

Jack grinned and nodded wordlessly, and Ness opened the door that he had stopped at. Lucas realized it first: this was one of those weird doors that led to random places outside of headquarters. (To elaborate, what that means is: there is a door that looks completely normal from the headquarters interior. When you open it and walk through it, it would appear on the outside to be a slab of bark on a tree (for example), but when you look back through the open slab of bark you can still see headquarters, meaning that the doors open to places in the world - you could walk out of a tree, out of a rock, even wind up on the roof of a Fourside skyscraper, and the door that you used would change to whatever it opens from: a slab of bark, a chunk of rock, a sheet of concrete.)

Through the doorway, they could see only sky and the edges of trees. Ness stepped through the doorway and flipped forwards, giving him the appearance of walking straight down the side of headquarters like a spider. Lucas followed, doing the same thing, and breathed in the fresh air of a hillside. He glanced back. The door opened on a gently sloping hillside, which explained the flip forwards: gravity shifted as they walked out of the earth. A strip of turf, grass included, had replaced the door.

"Where are we?" he asked Ness.

"I'm not sure myself," admitted Ness. "Jack led me here after I had...uh...another vision..."

"What about a vision?" demanded Paula, coming through the door and stumbling slightly as she experienced the gravity shift.

"Well...Rycoulth and Gygath had this map thing...like a three-dimensional map, Rycoulth was manipulating it with his claws and looking at planets. They had a machine that was giving their current coordinates on the wall," explained Ness quickly. "So...I put the two sets of coordinates into the ship." He deliberately left out the part about Giygas, not wanting to cause panic.

"And?"

"And...we know where the Yannabi are. AND Rycoulth and Gygath."

"Damn handy ability," said Duster gruffly, stepping through the doorway after Kumatora.

They waited while everyone else came through the door. The hillside was ringed by a forest, and the trees kissed the clear blue sky - quite unlike the grey clouds and depressing drizzle back at headquarters. The sun shone high noon.

Jack came through the door last, grinning at them and propping the strip of turf open with a stick so that nobody passing in headquarters would close it. "Okay, ready, everyone?"

Everyone except Ness nodded; he already knew what was coming.

"Okay." Jack drew a green rune in the air, which vibrated violently, giving off a strange noise that sounded almost like a call.

Instantly, seven wyverns came pelting out of the forest.

A white wyvern with strikingly blue eyes walked straight to Ness. "This is Eumaios. He's...well, you can all see he's a wyvern," finished Ness awkwardly.

"Eumaios?" said Paula. "Weird name." Eumaios the wyvern narrowed his eyes at her.

"Nathan gave the guy in charge of naming new wyverns at this headquarters a book from his own dimension. It was from this place he called Greasy - "

"Greece," corrected Lucas, and everyone was confused until Paula recalled something that had happened a long time ago.

"Guys," she began, "and girl - " with a nod at Kumatora " - remember what happened a long time ago when Lucas shouted out all those nonsense words - like Antarctica?"

"I don't think those are nonsense words," said a voice from behind them. They whirled around to find Isaac leaning casually against the doorframe and grinning. He looked rather odd, as he appeared to be lying down, but headquarters was behind him and people were walking around. Paula ignored the gravity shift. "Where do you get that from?" she asked him.

"I'm from Nathan's dimension, didn't anyone tell you?" he laughed. "We were friends back before any of this...how do you think I wound up in the Order, and second only to Nathan to boot? We trained together, he already had Navenstrae, and right before the end of our training we went on a little trip and found Eartsnevan here." The brown-and-gold staff materialized from nowhere and he twirled it a bit before stepping out onto the grassy hillside

"This," he went on, and a worn book materialized in his hand, "is a book called The Odyssey - "

"The Oddy-what?" said Ness.

"The Odyssey," reiterated Isaac slowly and carefully. "It is from - not Greasy, as Jack thought - " he smiled a little " - but ancient Greece. The man in charge of naming the wyverns after they hatch was reading this, and he took his favourite name and gave it to Eumaios here. These seven," he continued, "were chosen because they are compatible with - or will be compatible with - you."

("Oy!") barked King.

("Why don't we get wyverns?") howled Boney.

"Erm..." said Jack.

"You're dogs. You aren't expected to be able to control massive wyverns with your paws, and we can't use seat straps because you can't strap yourself in - " began Isaac, but -

"Seat straps?" asked Lucas.

"Yeah, they're like harnesses - if you're not a skilled rider, you'll need to harness yourself to the wyvern to stop yourself falling off when it flies sideways or upside-down. Anyway," continued Isaac, "you can't put yourselves into the harnesses or get yourselves out, as you don't have opposable thumbs."

King and Boney continued to look resentful, but did not retort.

"Anyway...wyverns? You may approach your keepers now."

Eumaios, that strange wyvern, stood his ground next to Ness, who was now examining his new-paired wyvern with great interest.

Meanwhile, the other wyverns introduced themselves. (Duster, who could not hear telepathy, needed Kumatora to translate for him.)

Paula's was pink, which came as no surprise, and she introduced herself as Sarrh (which, Duster reflected later, was a rather odd name for a female).

Jeff had an orange wyvern approach him. It seemed oddly...slimmer than the rest. It introduced itself as Fain as it circled Jeff.

"Ah, you've an orange wyvern," grinned Jack. "See how thin he is? It's not because he's underfed, it's because orange wyverns are incredibly agile and fast. Watch...Fain, show Jeff what you can do."

The wyvern Fain looked straight at Jack, nodded once, and shot into the trees like a bullet. A moment later, he returned with a log clutched in his jaws. First, he wormed through the log like an octopus, then tossed it high and shot through it again before winding himself around it and unwinding himself just before it hit the grass with a dull thud.

"Wow," said Ness.

"Oh!" exclaimed Isaac, dropping the binder full of complicated equations and illustrations he was holding. "I forgot...we should demonstrate the abilities of these wyverns. Paula, look at Sarrh...see how much of her wings are the skin flaps?"

"Hey...you're right," said Paula.

("Watch this,") instructed Sarrh. She unfolded her wings and held them high before whipping around and flapping them forwards at the trees. The resulting wind was so strong that the closest trees were uprooted and fell with an astonishingly loud crash to the ground.

There was a moment of stunned silence before Isaac said awkwardly, "Okay, so, next wyvern?"

Poo's wyvern was a violent shade of violet. ("I'm Chyrr,") it thought-spoke regally in a female voice, staring haughtily around at them all.

"Sarrh's sister," explained Isaac. "Notice the double 'r' in each name..."

"Show us what you can do, Chyrr," laughed Jack.

Chyrr nodded once and shot an incredible jet of purple flame. It was much longer than the flame they had seen Arcturus breathe - and if they had bothered to measure it, it was exactly four times longer than the flame-breathing range of any other wyvern there (pardoning Eumaios).

Poo gave a silent nod of approval.

Next came a sunshine-yellow wyvern for Lucas. She opened her mouth wide and breathed a shining, unusually bright jet of yellow flame before Isaac cast a rather menacing-sounding spell that caused them to be engulfed in total darkness. In the darkness, she introduced herself as Artemis.

"What - ?" began Paula, but just then, the yellow wyvern Artemis began to emit a radiant light that caused them to be able to see their surroundings clear as day.

"Interesting creatures, wyverns," said Isaac casually, as if a small dragon was not glowing brightly in front of him. "They have many special abilities. I understand that you haven't seen many of these abilities? Nathan told me you guys were there when we finally found out the ability of blue-grey wyverns..."

"Yeah, Arcturus breathes underwater," said Lucas.

"Exactly. My wyvern, Llydr - ah, here he is - " for Isaac's forest-green wyvern had just popped up out of nowhere, though Paula was quite sure Isaac had summoned him " - can control plants and stuff. It's a tad odd to watch, really. And Lynn's wyvern - you've never seen her in combat, she's pink like Sarrh there, when Lynn's wyvern is in combat - and we don't really spend much of our time fighting, Order members, unless we're in a special unit or something like you guys - "

"Get to the point," snapped Kumatora. A black wyvern nearby roared its approval.

"Ehm...okay. Anyway, she'll use her wings to throw everything away from her, and when she hits someone with fire they're flung the other way. Anyway," continued Isaac, "part of the reason we're the Order of the Dragon is the founder - a dragon - Nathan's father, in fact..."

When Isaac said this, Lucas remembered something. Hadn't the Kar - those ancient guards of Dalaam's ancient prison-palace, who had discovered the secret to eternal life - hadn't they stated that they knew the Order? Inferring from what Poo had said about Dalaam's ancient history, the Kar had to have been about 3,000 years old. The only human contact they had had was at the beginning of their exile, which was 3,000 years ago...

Nathan himself had figured this out. His father had been 500 years old at the founding of the Order, not nearly old enough to have met the Kar. So the Order was a much more ancient organization, reaching farther back than they had previously thought...

But Nathan was dead now, and there was no way he could be asked about this.

As he thought this, Isaac had changed topics again (to Kumatora's annoyance) and described the abilities of the wyverns in detail. As Lucas came out of his reverie, Isaac continued explaining the Order's "mascot."

"...we picked wyverns as our chief companions and mounts, that's another reason we're the Order of the Dragon, as wyverns are really small dragons," he finished lamely. "Anyway...go on, Myros."

Myros was a large brown wyvern that approached Duster. ("Hello,") it greeted, its telepathy-voice (anyone who has heard telepathy cannot deny that it comes in the form of a voice) clearly male.

Duster said nothing except, "Uh...isn't anyone going to...?"

"He already - oh, nevermind, I'll have to translate or Myros here's gonna have to learn to speak English..."

("No need,") said Myros simply. ["Is that better?"]

"Much," grinned Duster. The wyvern had switched from telepathy to Order-speak via the tattoos. Ness took the time to notice a brand of the tattoo on Eumaios' shining white scales.

Just as the black wyvern that had agreed with Kumatora earlier came forwards, however, there was a disturbance overhead.

"Look out!" bellowed Duster, pulling the two people closest to him - Kumatora and Jack - to the ground.

Everyone else ducked as a colossal "wad" of crackling green energy shot past them some 20 feet above their heads, right through some of the tallest trees.

Isaac stared intently at the place where the anomaly had left their sights. They could still hear its loud crackling echoing into the distance. Before anyone else had realized what was happening, Ness swung astride Eumaios and took off. Isaac and Kumatora followed, Kumatora taking the black wyvern as hers.

"GLAD TO SEE YOU'VE JOINED US!" bellowed Ness over the wind, grinning at the other two and their wyverns.

Kumatora and Isaac simply laughed. Eumaios sped up, and to his surprise, neither Isaac nor Kumatora's wyverns were able to keep up.

("Slow down!") called Isaac's wyvern Llydr.

("What he said!") cried Kumatora's black wyvern desperately.

Ness slowed down. ["What was all that about?"] he asked.

["Uh, I'm not sure,"] replied Isaac. ["To tell you the truth...we haven't had a white wyvern in three centuries. There aren't any records on the last one's abilities or anything, either, because nobody actually bothered to check if it was albino or not. The Order was actually better-organized and prepared at its founding..."]

["Explain to me what this whole white-wyvern albino-wyvern business is,"] said Kumatora.

["Well, albino wyverns have the same skills as their intended colour - that is, if a wyvern's genes dictated that it would be acid-green, but it came out albino, that just means there aren't any pigments in its skin, and it would breathe that weird floating-poison stuff that Nathan's sister's wyvern breathes."]

["That stuff is painful,"] put in Llydr.

["How'd you know?"] asked Isaac, looking curiously down at his wyvern.

They were still flying, the green bolt never getting closer. Ness assumed they were going the same speed...just a bit faster...

["When Natalie and Lacey first joined the order, I was helping Lacey train to be an Order wyvern. During one of the practice sessions, Al, Arcturus and I were all teaching her correct fire-breathing tactics, when to use it, how to use the least flame for the greatest effect, accuracy, all that stuff. However, since she breathed that funky poison stuff, we couldn't teach her how to light fires or anything. While we were trying to come up with a solution for that, Al - big grey wyvern, Chris' partner, you know how they are - brings back this massive log none of the rest of us could have picked up alone - and instructs her to breathe that stuff through it. I ended up getting in the way of the end of the log - feels like I'm on fire for the next three days, I had to stay in the infirmary, remember?"]

["Ah,"] replied Isaac. ["ANYWAY. The albino wyvern has the same flame colour as its intended colour, so an intended-violet wyvern would breathe purple flame. And since they have the same inherited abilities, the flame would be about twice as long as the other baby wyverns'. It gets longer when they're older, about four times as long as the rest. White wyverns, on the other hand, breathe white flame, showing they're a different race, if you will. I dunno the abilities though..."]

Just then, the green bolt of energy ahead dove sharply downwards, straight towards the ground. The wyverns homed in on the location of its disappearance, which was revealed to be...

"What the HELL is that!" shouted Ness.

"I don't know, but I'd guess it's the entrance to the caves that we destroy one hundred years from now."

While this was going on, the others had been waiting patiently for their return. The wyverns, newly introduced to their keepers, were pacing around the clearing.

"If this was a routine wyvern-presentation, we'd be training you guys how to fly properly and stuff now," fumed Jack. "But, as nothing ever seems to be routine with you guys..." He grinned.

"Seems to me like Ness and Kumatora are already good at it," piped up Lucas. Everyone stared at him. "Oh. Uh. Did I do something?"

Nobody answered.

"What?"

["Take a few steps towards me,"] instructed Jack, ["and act like nothing is happening."]

Lucas did so, and the moment Jack deemed him close enough he whipped out his peculiar spear-harpoon and examined it, saying calmly, "You know, I've always liked this thing..."

And then, faster than any of them could see, he had shot the harpoon end directly into a scaly, green something.

"Rycoulth!" shouted Duster. His wyvern Myros roared angrily.

Rycoulth hissed angrily back as a second form materialized next to him: Gygath, Giygas' brother.

"How did you see?" hissed Rycoulth to Jack as he ripped the harpoon from the heavily bleeding wound and waved a glowing claw over it; it healed instantly.

"I'm doing a little testing for our researchers," smirked Jack, and he winked one eye. Whatever that means, thought Paula, who was quite confused.

As a response, a third figure materialized from nowhere.

This one was horribly scarred, twisted, and deformed, but Paula, Jeff, and Poo could tell exactly who - or what - it was.

"Giygas..." muttered Poo to himself as the violet wyvern next to him growled softly.

The three beings defiantly faced the much greater number of Order members and wyverns. Gygath, however, seemed to be able to sense the danger - he was shaking.

Suddenly, without command, Myros leapt into the air and plunged into the earth, leaving a massive hole that closed seconds later.

"Where did he - " began Paula.

("Look out!") screeched her new wyvern, Sarrh, and she flapped her massive wings gently. The entire group, wyverns and all, was blown several meters sideways as Myros slammed upwards directly under their adversaries. The trio flailed comically through the air, shouting what sounded like various dark spells (and producing no effects, not being able to draw the necessary runes).

"Braechas Luz!" shouted Jack, and a beam of piercing light rent the air as all eyes were drawn to him. The beam went straight through Gygath's chest and he choked and collapsed as if stabbed.

("Natura Pathoges!") barked Boney, although Duster heard only a bark. A ray of sickeningly green energy swirled gracefully through the air to Rycoulth, who retched but recovered himself quickly.

"We're not going down that easily, dog," spat Rycoulth. Giygas, silent so far, healed his brother.

"PK Thunder!" rasped the newly healed Gygath. Duster leapt nimbly out of the way of the bolt of lightning and whirled rapidly, catching Giygas in the chest with one of his boots. There was a crackling noise - he had clearly remembered his unusual power - and Giygas was thrown into a tree, which shot out of the ground under the influence of Arborlevus and abruptly stopped, leaving Giygas to soar sky-high. "Krael!" screamed Rycoulth, and everyone stopped watching Giygas to evade the attack.

An elongated, rippling blob of dark energy tore through the air, slamming into King and throwing him backwards where he lay, twitching in pain. Gygath, who was still weak from the light spell, managed to cough "PK Fire!" and they were forced to duck -

"Gravitus Desce!" screamed Jack as he leapt several feet into the air to dodge the fire. A tree came falling down, crumbling to sawdust -

A second wave of flame caught the floating wood and caused a cloud of flame to engulf Rycoulth and Gygath just as Giygas came plummeting down from the sky and rasped "PK Freeze!"

The PSI caught Paula in the side and she lay, shivering, until Poo tried Mirror, turned into Giygas, and launched a retaliatory PSI Fire back at Giygas over Paula, who defrosted.

The wyverns, who, apart from Myros and Sarrh, had done absolutely nothing in the shock of their first battle coming so soon and agaisnt such powerful foes, sprang into action just then. Fain, Jeff's wyvern, shot straight into the cloud of flaming wood and there was a flurry of teeth and claws; next moment, he had retreated, his claws coated in purplish blood - "Ew," muttered Paula -

An incredibly long jet of purple flame came tearing through the air and the dying flame cloud engulfing Rycoulth and Gygath as Giygas struck Fain, who was nearest, with his palm and the wyvern crumpled, struck by an Omega PSI Freeze.

"PK Love!" cried Lucas valiantly, and a wave of white light swept over Giygas, who was pushed into the ground under the influence of PSI he had never known.

Just then, three wyverns came into view over the treeline. One, forest-green, roared - the grass sprung up as if alive and shot as one at Rycoulth and Gygath, covering them in small cuts from their thin edges; a black wyvern seemed to melt and dive into the ground, coming back up moments later with Kumatora on its back. Roaring, it spat black flame as Kumatora shouted, "PK Ground!"

A fissure opened up, and a nearby tree collapsed. Gygath and Rycoulth were struck by earth pelting up from inside of the fissure and thrown sideways just as the tree landed and a stream of tiny pebbles fired like a machine gun out of the fissure, piercing yellow objects on the trees -

"It's a lemon tree?" said Paula in confusion, holding her injured side.

"Lemon forest, maybe!" shouted a voice from atop the forest-green wyvern overhead - Isaac, Kumatora, and Ness were back. The pierced lemons spurted acidic juices, spraying them over Rycoulth and Gygath, who roared in pain as the lemon juice filled their many cuts from the attacking grass. (**A/N**: Lemon forest? Tiny cuts? Pro.)

Eumaios dove suddenly, straight for Giygas, as Ness realized who it was and he drew Hydra, delivering a deadly slash with the force of an attacking wyvern.

Giygas, fortunately for himself, moved out of the way in time, but Ness still caught his twisted leg with the blade and it came clean off, to general retching.

"THE HELL!" bellowed Ness, leaping from Eumaios and charging straight at Giygas, armed with his old bat now -

WHAM! he had made contact with the weapon, but did not relent - he drew back, swung upwards, catching him in the chin before swinging around and coming in for the left. Giygas flew to his right but he football-kicked the evil entity hard, and Giygas was thrown into his second tree that day, bleeding profusely.

Just then, there was a loud shout. Ten Order members had come out of the hillside, one aiming a bow straight at Giygas (for Giygas was on their "Most Wanted" list and everyone knew his face, along with Rycoulth and Gygath).

"No!" shouted Ness, waving his arms. "I have to do this!"

Too late. The arrow shot straight at Giygas, but Ness managed to block it with Hydra (which later impressed a commanding officer). From that position, he swung around and drove the blade home.

Every living being, alien or human, stood gaping at what had just happened.

Then someone remembered they were supposed to be fighting. As Ness stood panting, covered in blood that was a mixture of his own and Giygas', he became aware of a great weight in his hand. Looking around, he realized it was Hydra, whose blade was duller than he had ever seen it. Its usual shining gleam was extinguished, replaced by an odd fogginess.

The weight became greater and greater, until -

WHUMP. The blade had fallen from his grasp and pierced the earth, coming to rest only after it had embedded itself a good two feet in the ground.

He tried to pull the sword out, but it would not come.

Meanwhile, the others were fighting Rycoulth and Gygath, both of whom seemed to have been enraged by Giygas' sudden death and were fighting their hardest.

"PK Fire!" screamed Gygath.

"Markke Infeltre!" bellowed Rycoulth.

The wave of flame shot forwards as they expected it, but that didn't stop most of them from being struck. Kumatora had leapt nimbly into the air and shot a retaliatory PSI Freeze back at Gygath as a small bolt of darkness shot straight at Kumatora -

"No!" shouted Duster, leaping into its path. The bolt caught the sole of his shoe and exploded, the source of its contact spewing waves of crippling darkness.

"Ąrquĩs Яæơn!" screamed Isaac from 10 feet away, and Duster shuddered violently. The darkness spell stopped abruptly, and they could tell from the look of shock on Rycoulth's face that it wasn't meant to.

"Hrrgh!" grunted Duster as he swung round, boot swallowed by darkness. The impact of it sent Rycoulth reeling, engulfed in a cloud of his own darkness. "Have a taste of your own medicine, ya freak!" crowed Duster, leaping backwards nimbly. He knew that, just as he had been given the power of electricity, he could now use darkness from his boots as well.

"That was...brave," said Kumatora to him as he dodged a PSI Freeze. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't..." She trailed off.

"Neither do I," said Duster, "but let's not find out." He grinned quickly before removing a number of black spheres from his pocket and pelting the two foes with them; they were soon enshrouded in smoke as the small bombs exploded like firecrackers.

"Urgh!" shouted Ness as he yanked on Hydra with all his strength. The blade did not budge.

"Here!" cried Lucas. He jogged lightly over to Ness as the ten reinforcements darted forwards and swarmed Rycoulth and Gygath, who seemed to have finally given up and vanished with a bright flash.

"What?" snapped Ness. Lucas raised one eyebrow at him before tugging gently on the blade. Its glow immediately returned, and it was shiny as ever; as it came out of the ground, it gave one rather menacing gleam in Ness' direction - as if it knew he had killed in cold blood.

* * *

"I killed him in revenge for what he did to the human race."

He repeated this sentence over and over again, to himself, rocking back and forth on the rocking chair in Nathan's old...well, it was like an office, but beyond that was what appeared to be, from the inside, a small house.

"I killed him in - "

"Cold blood?"

Hydra was standing on its point in the doorframe.

"You...you talk!" said Ness, panicking.

"Oh, no, Ness. I'm your worst nightmare."

The words seemed to echo repeatedly.

"No...no!" he cried as the blade advanced on him. It rose into the air, pointing right at him, and drove itself into his chest. Blood spattered onto the walls. "No," he choked. "I didn't..."

"You killed. You killed. You killed."

The words echoed around him, not stopping. He tried to stem the blood flowing from his own chest, but it turned purple and gushed out faster.

"No..."

He sank to his knees, spluttering. Blood welled up in his mouth and he coughed, spraying it into the walls.

"Ergh!"

Ness jolted awake. Glancing around, he spotted everyone else asleep on the floor. Hydra and Scylla were both shining in Lucas' pack, as if having a conversation - they were certainly pulsing in odd patterns.

Seeing this, he felt hot tears in the corners of his eyes. Without thinking, he began sobbing silently. It was as if he had just lost his best friend, his companion...

He realized that Paula was sleeping farthest from him. He cried more, tears splashing onto the pillow he was supposed to be sleeping on.

"Damnit," he whispered. "Why did I do that? I shouldn't..."

"Ness?"

Isaac was standing, fully dressed as Ness was, in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame.

"Come with me for a moment. You're not in trouble or anything, but I think you might understand some stuff after this," he added, seeing Ness shrink back slightly. For some reason, even though Isaac's expression remained unchanged, Ness could tell he was not being judged by the Order's third-in-command.

"Right," hiccuped Ness, trying to remain dignified. He tossed the one blanket he was using away and followed Isaac to a room with a strip of solid gold around the entryway. There was no door: it was simply open, glowing with a dim light that came from nowhere.

"Permalight," muttered Isaac. "Made weak on purpose. Now, here. This is the Order's entire philosophy - the Philosophy Room. Yes, I know it's weird," added Isaac, "but it was Nathan's idea..."

He pulled a black-covered book with the world "EVIL" embossed in what appeared to be molten rock. It snaked around, making the book glimmer with a rather sinister light. "Have a read at this page..."

Isaac opened the book and showed him a page.

The page read:

Evil entities are defined as entities that have killed in cold blood.  
However, killing in cold blood has a specific definition. First, the target must be defenceless.  
Second, the target must not be an evil entity that is being killed to stop it causing further harm  
to innocent civilians and/or Order members. (In other words, an entity that is known to harm  
others and is known to plan to harm more may be killed if it is exceedingly dangerous.) Third,  
remorse must not be felt. And usually a fourth condition is satisfied: the target is killed at random  
by an unknown assailant.  
When an Order member must kill, it MUST NOT BE IN COLD BLOOD. Try to  
avoid killing altogether if possible. If the entity is evil and is being killed to stop it, this is mostly  
acceptable. Mostly.

He did feel a little better after all (although, later, he reflected on how oddly specific some rules were). Closing the book, he smiled weakly. "Thanks, Isaac."

"Don't mention it. I hope you feel remorse, though?" he added. "After all, Giygas WAS defenceless when you..."

"Why do you think I was crying? I know it was a horrible decision..." He trailed off.

He walked alone back to the room where they all slept, waiting for the next morning when the rocket would launch and take them on the Hunt. He dragged his bedroll over to Paula, knowing that by some enchantment she would know that he had repented. Before he laid down, however, he looked around at Hydra.

As he closed his hand on the hilt, the blade flashed once - a friendly flash. The sword was warm to his touch and came easily - it felt lighter than before, and he slid it into his pack. He knew that the blade had once more given him its allegiance, and that everything would be all right in the end.

* * *

Aah...my first new chapter since forever! (Updated as of 4/22: Seriously. I wrote chapter 13, waited forever, then wrote this.)

:3 REVIEW, ¡POR FAVOR!

Anyway.

I've been...distracted, to say the least. That's my business. (No, it is nothing to do with drugs, alcohol, or that other thing I can't say without making the fic rated M. It's just me having problems at home. And with a few people.)

Not many notes, really.

Next Chapter: Shadows 


	15. Unfortunate Update

==Quickie Update==

Because of school college, and a load of other junk, CtBB is cancelled (WTM is...un-cancelled) as of 10-7-12.

Sorry if anyone's disappointed. This notice will be removed & replaced with a new chapter when they are...ehm...un-cancelled.

First time since RotE's beginnings I've had to cancel...oh well, it'll be back eventually.

Sadly signing off...

A-Lord-Over-Birds


End file.
